Drifter's Journey: Dragon Age
by BlackenedAsh24
Summary: See what happens when a mid-western gamer that was dropped into the Mass Effect Universe years ago and survived is given a 'choice' to help save the Dragon Age Universe from ruin as well. Starts after the events of Scorpio's Legacy Book 4, jumps into Dragon Age: Origins and will go through Dragon Age II and Dragon Age Inquisition as well. (No romances have been decided yet) SI
1. When Life Gives You Pause

A/N To everyone that is familiar already with my story Scorpio's Legacy, this is- its kinda- well- I was- going to publish this AFTER I finished books 1-4 of Scorpio's Legacy, but then I realized how difficult it is to get inspiration for a Mass Effect SI series when all the hype is about the new Dragon Age game coming out. It's pretty much this; I have terrible writer's block when working on Scorpio's Legacy right now so I'm allowing a bit of a Time Shift to occur so I can keep my sanity.

This story is set AFTER the events of the fourth Scorpio's Legacy book, after Scorpio had already finished his journey with Shepard and his whole gang to destroy the Reapers. I STRONGLY suggest that any people currently reading the unfinished first book of Scorpio's Legacy take EXTREME caution when reading this, a lot of the references in this first chapter draw back to events that may or may not have happened yet in Scorpio's Legacy and as such nearly everyone reading this will be a bit confused.

At the beginning, Dylan David Scorpio received information through various sources about a new garden world out in an unknown part of the Terminus Systems. He decided to investigate the disappearances he has tracked, but also discover if what someone said about him finding his past on the planet's surface was true. He wiped all records of the planet from the Galactic Community and set off alone in a one-man ship he designed to find if what his friend said was true and discovers an energy signature on the planet's surface when he arrives. He lands a few hundred meters off in a clearing just outside a small forest the energy signature is detected from.

This is what happens when he gets through the small forest on foot...

* * *

...I step into the dark clearing only to have my breath sucked from my lungs. A mysteriously powerful crack in... something was over a small altar with a bloodied corpse laying there. Out of curiosity I step forward, one hand on my Katana HVB blade I named Dir'Eck and the other building my Dark Biotics just-in-case. The Tear flashes with pulsing green energy that-

"What the fuck?"

_Is that...? No... No that's impossible!_

I dash forwards out of a panic and roll the corpse over to find it mangled and rotted from years of decay, a dagger sticking out of it's chest that no doubt caused the person's death.

_No..._

The hand I hand on Dir'Eck flies to the hilt of the dagger and carefully outlines the soft grooves of the hilt. I close my eyes in horror that Death was actually telling the truth and let my hand touch the empty sheath on my hip wearingly. "So that bitch actually did it..." I mutter before taking grasp of the dagger and ripping it from MY chest.

_Rest in piece Dylan..._

A whisper of a word catches my ear and I look up to nearly gasp at the swirling green tear that was right in my face. The soft flares of unknown and strangely familiar energy nearly blinding my senses and overpowering my biotics. I reach out and touch the edge of the tear curiously, I hand heard about these Tears before but had never actually seen them in person myself. The green wisps of energy curl around my gloved fingers and crawl up my arm, gently brushing against my armor like the soft caress of a lover.

"Interesting..." I form a pulse of biotics and raise an eyebrow in surprise as the energy reacts by forming around the ball of black energy in my palm, giving it a swirling green hue. I toss the ball into a nearby rock, expecting it to simply rip the rock apart. A low boom pulses through the area as the ball rips another tear into the fragile fabric of the universe. I gasp as it lets a shadowy figure through before closing. I ready my biotics and take a combat stance to prepare for battle as the creature approaches.

"Well, I had expected another mage to greet me, but you look more like a warrior than any mage I've seen." I keep my face devoid of emotion as I analyze the creature's patterns of energy using my connection to Acerbus Infinium. "Oh, you are clever. Plucking at the Fade's strings so easily as to ascertain what I might be. Interesting you aren't already familiar with my kind." The shadowy and hunched figure states almost lazily. "I am Pause, a pleasure to meet you Drifter." The hooded creature dips low in a strange display of respect I understand.

Recognition dawns on me as I realize I haven't seen one of his kind in over twenty years. I smile slightly before subduing the emotion and speaking, "I am called Dylan in my home universe." I say calmly, unfazed by the Demon as I finally recognize the energies pulsing around me as Veil tendrils. "I would ask you why you are here if I didn't remember how I just tore a temporary rift into the Veil. I would instead ask you how I was able to do so."

He laughs slightly in a slow, drawn out way that seems to annoy me just slightly more then I expected. "The other Demons, as well as Death, suspected your power and knowledge would cause ripples. Death was unsuspecting and foolish to think he could control the first Drifter seen in over eight Ages."

I frown as he laughs again and wait for him to calm down before asking, "What is a 'Drifter'?"

He shuffles forward at the same moment I grab the hilt of Dir'Eck, feeling the curves of dark energy I infused into the metal react to my touch and set it aflame instantly. "Now now, what use would attacking you be to me when you have already proven yourself by resisting the Elder." I don't let go of the hilt, not do I take my eyes off of the Demon of Sloth as he shuffles up to the Tear and takes a string of its energy into one of its claws. "Perhaps only the Maker himself could truly stand against your power now. No I wish to teach you in the ways of our realm Drifter, otherwise your fragile mind would be instantly lost among its currents."

I watch him for a moment, weighing my options and deciding that it might be beneficial to learn how to use this strange new form of energy. Even if I don't trust him just yet.

I know I wouldn't complain about having the ability to open up a Tear at will. I sheath Dir'Eck and point a sharp, gloved, mechanical finger from my artifical left arm at him. "Alright, but if you try anything I will personally make sure your nightmares haunt your mind for eternity."

The Shade visibly shivers in fear, "Y-Yes, I had also heard about your domination of the mind, it is unfortunate that such a skill would suffer... permanent consequences to your victims, it might be interesting to see how it might change someone's outlook on life and death"

I scoff and turn to walk back to my ship, "Just get your training underway, I need to collect some things from my shi-" A flare of fade energy tears open in the distance, followed my a low explosion and a wave of flames that shoot up into the sky to be sucked into the Tear just as it closes. I gawk at the smoke and rubble that WAS my ship before running a hand down my face and wondering why I was even here. "Why?" I ask in exasperation as I turn to see him trying to hold back his laughter. He fails miserably and bursts out laughing.

_Fucking great, stuck on a pre-spaceflight planet, in an uncharted part of the Galaxy, with no way for anyone to find out where I am due to my paranoid secrecy. Why did I agree to this again?_

Pause settles down and composes himself with ease, something I was surprised by for some reason. "A drifter is someone who can willingly pass through the Tears, who can control the fabric of the universe they drop into and use them to pluck at the strings of fate. You are one of these creatures. The last Drifter nearly killed herself trying to return to her own realm. Alas it is impossible since your world is the most compact of them all, energy-wise, even more so then the Fade."

I look at him, her, it, with a calculated glance, trying to understand what it means. "So what you're saying is that it takes a certain amount of energy to 'Drift' into another universe, depending of how compact that universe is compared to the one I'm currently in?" It nods and I whistle in understanding. "Damn... who was the other Drifter and where did she end up?"

Pause, well, takes pause at this and seems to stare at me for a moment before answering, "She was a person of great power, but limited mental strength. One who chose to dance over the plots of her universe and not pluck the strings of fate. That cost her much of her alloted power and when she was finally ready to leave..." I wait as he dramatically pauses. "She killed hundreds of thousands in the resulting pulse of pure magical energy needed to tear the Veil on her world. She was permanently scarred and as such never could survive the transfiguation process of the Fade. She instead chose to use the power of the Fade to destroy herself, rather than be forced to live with the guilt of what her desperation cost her people. She is thus a martyr, a reminder of all who dwell in the Fade of what a weak mind could do without proper... restraints. Thankfully you seem beyond overqualified in that department, a... relief to the rest of us from the Fade."

I sigh as I take in this new information.

_A Drifter? And apparently I'm already stronger than the last one by not causing too much death in my wake? How does that work?_

Pause seems to know my thoughts as it says, "Your power grows with every life you destroy, but unless you can truly master your guilt, most Drifters simply go mad with chaos and never truly learn how to Drift like the Elder did." I nod after absorbing the new information like a sponge.

_So I'm seriously a Drifter? I mean the Protheans had theories about such things, so did the Thesek before it had to return to the Eternal Weave. Am I seriously THAT strange? THAT rare minded? I think I might just be even more insane then I thought I was before ME1._

"What does a Drifter do?" I ask cautiously, still wondering if it's too late to just take off and leave this planet.

Pause shifts forwards quickly and lays a clawed hand on my shoulder, I freeze at the contact, "A Drifter... Drifts though different Universes in an effort to hold a peace between them and make sure the Veil never gets torn. I'm afraid I cannot speak more then that for now, you must go and stop something that could destroy EVERY universe, including your own."

I stare into its dark eyes for a moment before closing my own and nodding, I had no-one left here, I made my goodbyes and made sure that everyone knew I might not come back from this mission. I step forward, up to the Tear in the Veil and stop just before the opening. I frown and turn to ask Pause a question, "Did my life-force power the initial rip in the veil in my own universe? Is that why I died?" It simply nods. "Do I have to do it again?" I ask worriedly.

Pause shakes its head, "No, you simply have to use your power just as you did to pull me into this world. Only, it will be much more taxing on your soul now since you aren't simply leaving the compacted Fade, your entering it, and leaving out another exit. It will require much power and without the proper concentration it WILL kill you."

_Oh, well that's just perfect._

I turn back to the Tear and swallow nervously, "Just- make sure Liara stays safe while I'm gone, she's dealt with so much over the years since we've met and I don't wish to do her further harm." I feel more then see Pause nod in agreement. I let out a sigh of relief and fear at what was to come. "Where am I to go?" I ask finally.

Pause shifts up to just behind me and places his claws onto my armored shoulders. "Where do you think? Where might we need you most?"

I feel something melt and flow across my skin and I shiver at the strange contact before ripping myself away from his grasp and looking down to find my armor fusing into something else. I gasp as it stops melding and forms into the blackest leather armor I've ever seen. My dagger siting comfortably in it's new holster along my left collar bone. "Holy fuck." I breath, the material is smooth to the touch and holds a weightlessness my other armor didn't have, giving me immense flexibility.

A crackling ripples though a fallen tree behind me and I turn to impulsively catch the piece of wood flying at me. The dark and ancient wood hums at my touch and I can FEEL the energy it holds within.

An explosion surprises me from behind and I turn to gasp as I barely catch a longsword by the hilt, its weight nearly throwing me to the ground.

"You are now a new person, with new powers, but the same mind. Your skills with biotics have been appropriately transitioned into beginner talents of your choice." Pause tosses a roll of paper at me as I sheath the blade in its housing and let the staff snap to my back with a strangely natural energy. I catch the small scroll easily. "This is a list of Specializations you might already know. Please choose two you wish to master, or six you wish to begin in with no prior knowledge, or lastly three where you aren't a master but control enough of it to be called an expert." I open up the scroll and see a list;

Arcane Warrior

Assassin

Bard

Battlemage

Berserker

Bloodmage

Champion

Duelist

Guardian

Fade Spirit

Force Mage

Keeper

Legionnaire Scout

Ranger

Reaver

Shadow

Shapeshifter

Spirit Healer

Spirit Warrior

Templar

_Oh. My. God. I'm seriously going into Dragon Age?!_

I grin like an idiot and look over the list again, mad laughter nearly breaking through my throat as I realize my luck.

_TWO Bioware games in a row! Awesome!_

I frown as my eyes rest on 'Fade Spirit'. "What is the 'Fade Spirit' Specialization? I've never heard of it." I ask Pause.

It looks at me for a second, seemingly amused. "That is the only Specialization that gives you control over Fade energy, as you have seen already it can be very useful." Its smile drops. "There is only one problem with it, the energy has to come from the Fade, Which means you have to pair it with Spirit Warrior, Arcane Warrior, Bloodmage, or Spirit Healer to properly control the fracturing of the Veil within your own body. A Spirit will have to guard you from Demons as well from the other side so you can freely use the Fade energy to your own gain without being possessed." Pause shuffles over to the Tear and takes another wisp of Fade energy. "The Fade is full of power if you know how to contain it..." He flicks his wrist at a nearby tree and it's torn apart instantly, the shards of wood spiraling around a brightly glowing green spot before blasting outwards in a flare of Fade energy.

I gasp as the shards stop just before even touching me and just float there.

"Manipulation of the Fade is very... powerful. As such it only requires a small bit of energy to do much, as long as you don't let it fall apart." It waves its hand and the shards fly into it, bursting into a brilliant green flame over it's black palm before burning out. "It is a useful talent, if not the most threatening. Your dreams will be nightmarish as your power over the Fade would rival that of all the Demons and nearly match that of the Maker himself. Your life will be a living hell if you choose this, as Templars will sense the thin Veil that shrouds around you if you do not hold your magic under a tight vice. Mages will flock to you as your power will no-doubt cause them to think you are a Demon physically manifesting in their Realm. Distrust will appear as common as breathing..." Pause watches me intently as I listen, seeing my lack of reaction. "You are not deterred?" His voice is slow, yet surprised. "I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. I suppose your past lives have given you a certain strength of will towards your dreams, but know this." It shuffles forwards to look me directly in the eye. "You WILL need to train. You are NOT a Spirit of the Fade, you are NOT born with this power, you must be taught to use it before your journey truly starts." Pause steps back and waits for my reply respectfully.

_Wow... power over the Fade? I'd be a Dreamer..._

I look at the list and see it's been shortened to;

Arcane Warrior

Bloodmage

Spirit Healer

Spirit Warrior

I run through what I remember from over two decades ago about the Specializations, back before the Reapers, before my death, before Death.

_Wow, it really has been over twenty years since I fell ass-first into the Mass Effect Universe. It's so strange to finally be done with it. I almost feel sad that I won't be able to see Liara again. She's pretty much the only one left in this galaxy that doesn't think I'm a monster worse then the Reapers. Or maybe she thinks that too and just understands my situation after... the 'incident' in the Galactic Core._

I shake my head and file the thought away for a later time. I was given an opportunity and I was going to take it in stride. I had only one option left... survival, at any cost.

_I'm turning forty in a few days... I came here when I was eighteen and had to suffer through twenty two years of shit piled up on-top of more shit, but I think it was worth it to see the end, and live past it. God I fucking wish I could have just killed Saren back on Thessia, just to end his own suffering at Harbinger's hands, tentacles, whatever._

Again I shake my head clear and take in a deep breath, feeling my artificial lungs inflate and deflate with a plasticity I'm still not used to. "I choose to pair Fade Spirit with..." I look over the small list once more before nodding, I know what I need to choose. "...Spirit Warrior."

Pause nods before asking, "And is that what you wish? To become a master Fade-Warrior? Or do you want another Specialization to compliment your abilities?"

I blink for a moment and look down to see the entire list was back, except Fade Spirit and Spirit Warrior were crossed out.

_Is that enough to fight the Blight? To fight the Archdemon? To fight through the multiple wars I'll have to face? I think that's enough._

I nod at Pause with finality.

Pause shimmers with veins of green energy and I can feel knowledge being not only ripped from my mind, but dumped in it's place.

_God! It's almost as painful as having Harbinger scraping the inside of my skull out during that final push that ended the damn Reaper war!_

Pause shivers before stopping and looking extremely weakened from the exertion, and it shows in its slower, lower-pitched voice, "Your settings have been put into effect and your Origins have been written. Your fate from here on out is sealed to your new realm. We will not speak again until it is time for you to leave once more." It's shadowy form seems to be getting smaller and smaller before I realize I was Drifting away from him. "Your paths have been made clear _Bellanaris Falon Elgar_!" My eyebrows twitch slightly as my mind instantly translates it to 'Eternal Friend Spirit'. It was deliberately speaking in Elvish to mess with me. "Goodbye Drifter, I will see you when-" It's voice is cut off as the swirls of beautifully sinister Fade energy entangle themselves around me. I gasp at the searing flash of light that chokes the breath out of me... everything goes white after that. This time I know in absolute certainty that the heat I feel was NOT from Mexico.

* * *

A/N NOTHING AFTER THIS CHAPTER WILL DRAW BACK TO SCORPIO'S LEGACY. I want to make sure everyone knows that this first chapter is just a bridge between Scorpio's Legacy and the Drifter's Journey series. I have no intension of making this an AU crossover. Scorpio is now officially stuck inside the Dragon Age series with NO powers or skills from Mass Effect at all. He is officially Me dropped into the Dragon Age Universe. I intend to keep writing Scorpio's Legacy and finishing it along side of this series by the end of 2015. At that point Scorpio's Legacy will dip into Mass Effect 4 with a different protagonist and the Drifter's Journey series will probably jump into another game universe. :)

Again, the only reason I'm writing this NOW instead of in a year or so is because Dragon Age: Inquisition comes out in a few months and I want a piece of that in one of my stories. :)

This Dragon Age Self Insert is officially started! Whoa! :) I'll be updating this thing semi-weekly, it really depends on what I feel like writing, Mass Effect, or Dragon Age.

Oh, and you see that button below? The one that will determine whether I keep writing this story? Yeah you might want to hit that. ;)


	2. Sweet Sweet Berry Ale

A/N Writer's block sucks! Anyways, here's the next chapter for you all.

As always... Read, Review, and Enjoy! :)

* * *

I feel weightless for a split second before I fly out of the tear and crash to the ground, I faintly feel the Veil mending around me before throwing up as I get to my knees and passing out as I roll to the side.

* * *

I take a sharp intake of breath as I wake and stare up at the night sky from my position on the cool ground.

_Wha- Where am I?_

Sitting up I take a few seconds to collect myself before standing up to look around in the darkness and barely recognize that I'm in a field of some sort. The dim moonlight barely allowing me to make out anything beyond a few feet in front of me. A sudden rustling noise causes me to whip around and stare at the darkness in slight fear of the unknown.

_I was in a forest when-_

The memories of my encounter with Pause flash before my mind and I nearly hurl again from the unforgiving flashback.

_Oh, right. I made a deal and found out I'm a Drifter. Just perfect._

I check my gear and immediately draw my staff as I catch two red spots in the distance watching me, I look more closely to see they were eyes and hold onto my staff defensively. I try to build up my biotics and clench my staff tightly as it causes a piercing headache to stun me momentarily. I pant away the pain and stagger backwards as the creature growls menacingly. When I look up again the eyes are gone. My eyes dart around, looking for where the creature could have gone before my headache suddenly ends abruptly at a tingling sensation in my fingertips. I grip the staff tighter and gasp as the hidden power floods into my node- my mana pool. I shake my head.

_Get your head in the game! You are NOT in Mass Effect anymore! You are weak, feeble, and easily able to be ripped apart and eaten by the smallest creature that decides you're worth the trouble!_

I swallow at the thought of being powerless for the first time in a few decades and refocus as something gray and dark rushes past the edge of my vision. I cut off my question of 'who's there?' and substitute it with a sharp intake of breath as the creature dives towards me, teeth barred and shining in the moonlight. I yelp and swing my staff like a baton to whack the thing on it's side. A pulse of electricity sparks against it and it yelps before staggering back to try and get to safety. I don't let it have the option as I spin with rough precision to smash the bottom end of my staff onto it's head, surprisingly smashing the head into the dirt and setting it on fire from the high voltage shock my staff gives it.

"Wolves..." I breath just as I hear howling behind me and turn to see myself surrounded. "Fuck." I count three trying to corner me between them and the burning wolf behind me. I swing my staff threateningly, "Stay back!" I know they don't care, they look to be almost starving and definitely feral, a starving wolf is like a starving human, they do desperate things when they're hungry. I take a quick check to my surroundings just in time before the wolf to my right lunges. I barely jump back and surprisingly over the burning corpse to dodge the wolf's jagged teeth from ripping my side open. I notice it's back paw was caught in the flames and quickly approach as it whimpers to smack it over the head quickly and get in a moderately powerful shock. I watch the static jump through the twitching wolf and back away as it regains it's mobility and starts limping away into the darkness. I look around in a slight panic and curse as the corpse was starting to burn out. "Fuck fuck fuck!"

_Actually I should be shouting 'sod' or 'by Andraste' or something but this is NOT the time or place to start yet!_

I back up to stay within the dying light, knowing full-well that without it I didn't stand a chance.

_I REALLY wish I knew a spell or two-_

I blink as I realize I had a sword and dagger with me- "Yah!" I'm tackled by another wolf to the ground, knocking my staff out of my hands to barely catch it around the throat and stop it's sharp teeth from chomping down around my neck. It growls and snaps within inches of my face and digs it's claws into my black leather armor, desperately trying to kill me and get a meal before I let one of my hands go and grab my dagger to stab into it repeatedly as it nearly bites my ear off as I turn my head out of it's initial bite path and push it with my free hand. It howls in pain and I keep stabbing until it stops moving. I groan as it's full weight holds me down for a moment before I can push it off and stagger to my feet, my adrenaline seriously spiking my senses. "Fu-" I freeze as I feel something running up behind me and I turn to stagger back as the last wolf barely gets within reach before rushing away to try a different angle. "Son of a bitch." I look at my dagger and draw my sword in my left hand, my dagger in my right.

_This isn't smart since my dominant hand is my right, but this worked with sword training before so fuck it!_

I shift my stance to accommodate the heavy longsword and take in an invigorating breath before quickly slicing the sword to my left at a shifting shadow to barely shave a patch of fur off it's tail before it dashes silently away again. "Come on..." I hop on the balls of my feet and shift around, keeping myself light and quick for any dodging required.

*HOWL*

I look behind me and raise my sword just in time to be tackled to the ground, again, my dagger flying off to the side as I hold onto the sword for dear life to try and keep the wolf back as we fall. The sharp teeth snap at me and I cringe at the nasty breath of the wild beast before noticing my sword was stabbed into it's belly. It whimpers and stops snapping, just slowly dying on my sword. I meet my eyes with it's bright yellow ones and watch as the life leaves them, a painful and desperate look permanently planted in the yellow orbs.

I swallow as my heart clenches and I whisper some words for it's passing. "Emma ir abelas, dareth fen-falon, sahlin bellanaris." (I am filled with sorrow, be safe wolf-friend, go to eternity) I push the wolf off of me and stand up before yanking the blade out of the body with little difficulty. I sheath it in it's spot at my side and squint in the darkness to see my dagger laying off to the side. I walk over and pick it up. Stopping for a moment to notice how the hand grips no-longer fit my hand. I turn it over once or twice in my hand before sheathing it and seeing my staff off to the right, stuck in the mud of a small pond. I step up carefully, noting how my feet don't sink in as deeply as they should have. I look at my feet and see they look fine, but they were just slightly smaller. I shrug and shake my head while grabbing my staff and carefully walking back towards the wolf corpses, remembering how much wolf pelts are worth in the DA universe.

_Do I even have-?_

I blink as I mentally go through some small pieces of vital information needed to properly skin a wolf, or any animal. "What the shit?" I sigh and wonder what Pause did to me to make me so confused. "First the heightened dexterity, lower weight, quicker reflexes, better hearing and vision from what I've seen, and add to the fact that I SEEM smaller..." I keep my voice a whisper as I kneel beside the first wolf and draw my dagger to stab into the hide near the single cut through the pelt my sword made. "Either I'm younger, which I definitely feel." I pull the blade easily just deep enough into the skin to get a decently thick hide to work with. "I'm just disorientated because I've just essentially dropped out of the fade to land on my ass... literally." I peel the skin back for better grip and keep separating the hide from the corpse. "But neither of them explain the weight difference or the fact that I'm retrieving a wolf pelt from a wolf corpse." I start pulling the legs out from under it to better work on getting the WHOLE pelt just like the Dalish taught me.

…

I stop and think about what I just thought.

…

"Oh my god..." My eyes widen. "I never looked up what elvish was from the DA universe! Pause said to me 'Bellanaris Falon Elgar' and I instantly knew it was elvish and what it meant!" I whisper franticly. "Oh shit, shit, shit!" I drop the dagger and immediately grab at my ears. They're pointed. I double and triple check before taking my dagger and using the shine off of it to look at myself. I gasp in shock at my appearance.

_I look like an elf!_

I blink and turn my head to look at the ears and cringe, "No, I AM an elf, you son of a bitch..." I internally curse Pause while marveling at the pointed cartilage in my new ears.

_The biology behind the elvish people always fascinated me for some reason. The high cheek bones, hard yet strong features in every male-_

I quickly look down to make sure and sigh.

_Yep male, although being a female elf would have been interesting, and dangerous, and psychologically traumatizing... you know what this is just a bit better._

I catch a glimpse of my staff in the blade and sheathe it to bring the staff around. I notice thin carvings along the exterior, elven carvings or runes at the very least. Each individually glowing as I trace then with my slim fingers. I feel the... lyrium pulsing inside like a heartbeat. "Magic... I never expected it to be so difficult to comprehend but it is. At least with biotics I had made theories about how dark energy effects matter and applied it to my training, this... this is beyond my imagination."

A twig snaps behind me and I'm brought back to reality, fear crawling up my spine as I turn abruptly to see the two burning red eyes glaring at me through the darkness. A loud roar hits my ears and the massive creature starts charging. I grip my staff tightly in panic as I see it's a Black Bear. The runes glow and twinkle in my grip and something whispers into my ear, something I both understand and can't comprehend. I drop the staff and raise my hands, hearing myself recite the strange archaic language before flames fly from my fingertips and engulf the Bear just as it gets within two feet of clawing me in half. It roars in pain and I don't hesitate to let the strangely impulsive nature of the spell wrap itself around the bear in an inferno of flames. It collapses, skin melted off and bones charred in some areas, not even taking one last breath before dying. I feel faint and fall to my knees before collapsing and passing out.

* * *

I gasp awake, only to cough out a mouthful of ash and soot as I try and push myself to a sitting position. Looking up I yelp in surprise at the charred skull staring back at me before falling back and onto the ground roughly, "Ah..." I rub my elbow where it made contact with a small rock and remember the night before, the panic, the wolves, the... Bear. I look back at the corpses in surprise that I actually survived such an assault before shaking my head clear and checking my equipment. "My dagger." Looking around I find it stuck in the not rotting wolf corpse that I was trying to skin. I grab it and cringe at the foul smell the steaming flesh has in the-

_What time IS it?_

Looking up I see the sun is just about halfway across the sky, maybe a bit after noon I'd guess. I look back at the wolves and bear and swallow nervously, "Being so close to death always unnerves me." I bite my lip, wondering if I could still salvage the pelt before saying screw it all and finishing my work, a bit more nauseated then I soak the pelt in the pond for a few minutes, scraping my dagger against the surface to smooth out the hide. "So strange how I know how to skin a dead animal so quickly, I wonder what other skills I have from this new body." Finishing it, I stand up and tie the front paws gently around my neck to keep it from getting lost and judge a direction to go before hearing some sounds in the distance, I frown and step closer, keeping hidden in the tall grass until I come through some trees and see a farm. I spot six workers tilling and planting new crops while some children play in the dirt around them. I take a step out of the tree-line and freeze. "Oh shit..."

_I'm a mage, an apostate mage, in a world where there's a Chantry and Circle to coddle and entrap my kind. That's another thing, I'm going to have to convince everyone I meet that I'm not just another elf but a nice elf, or at least a respectable elf._

"God- I mean... hmm..."

_What should I say in these situations? Maker or Creators?_

I look at myself in the reflection of my dagger again and see I have one swirling mark curving around my left and right eyes that cross into a swirling vortex on my forehead.

_So I can pass as Dalish, well, former Dalish. What do I do if someone asks? Shrug them off? And what about my staff? I know people don't really recognize them in the games but this is reality! People aren't that thick-headed!_

I shake my head and grab my staff to prop myself up and act like it's a walking stick. I step slowly up to the fence surrounding the farm, hesitant of approaching the former enslavers of my kind.

_Wow, talk about prejudice... I'll have to work on that later._

One of the workers notices me and quickly jogs over. "Hey! What are you doing elf? This isn't where you belong!"

I scoff at him, "Where would I belong then?" I fake-fall against my staff to show how fake-tired I am. "I've been traveling for days and need a place to rest, this fence was simply convenient for the moment."

The dark haired and scruffy-looking man watches me for a moment before sighing, "Sure sure, just... leave before anyone else notices you, we don't like strangers here."

I frown slightly, but subdue it before he notices, "If it isn't any trouble, I wish to know where the nearest town or village is with an inn."

He stares at me, looking conflicted before turning and pointing at a road on the other side of the main farmhouse. "That road leads to Lothering, maybe another half hour's journey, it has an inn if you have the coin."

I nod and smile slightly, "Thank you human, always refreshing to find a helpful soul amongst a sea of prejudice."

He waves his hand dismissively and walks back to his work while I push off the fence and regain my solid posture.

_Simple-minded but willing to help others, strange._

I ignore it and walk slowly to the road before sheathing my staff and hopping into a mild jog.

_Now all I need is coin and a way to find out the date. If it's too close to 9:30 Dragon I'm screwed._

* * *

It doesn't take more then ten minutes with my jog before I'm entering the front gates of Lothering, noting how I recognize about half of it while the rest looks completely off and larger, looking like a proper town now.

_Well, this is real so they aren't constrained by base programing and data caches._

I hear the Chanter at his board reciting the chant and I walk over. I nod to... Devin as I look across the board and sigh at my height.

_I'm literally JUST short enough to not touch the top of the board. I'm maybe five foot, five foot five at the most, about six inches shorter then I was before. Oh the irony... even as a human I wouldn't be tall enough to pass as anything but a half-bread._

I sigh and turn to Devin to ask for help, "May all receive the chant of light-"

I cut him off, "I'm sorry, but could you reach that task in the top right for me? I can't reach it." He simply nods and hands it to me. I look it over and frown at the strange wording before internally slapping myself and re-reading it in Old English.

_I can read Shakespeare so I can probably translate this pretty well. Ok, so... ok that word goes there, and this one is a prefix to that one... ah! Ok... oh a pack of wolves are terrorizing a farmer's small herd outside of Lothering and he's offering fifty silver for their deaths. The date for it is-_

I freeze.

_Oh my... third of... what month is that? Maybe June? 9:27 Dragon. Ok, so I'm about two and a half years before Dragon Age: Origins... that's just wonderful._

I sigh and shake my head slightly.

_Two and a half years to learn how to control my magic. Looks like I'm seeking out Flemeth after-all..._

Thinking about the bounty itself I blink and look back at the wolf pelt I have. "Uh... I just killed these wolves, in a clearing just outside a farm. This is one of the pelts, the other's weren't salvageable." Devin smiles and takes the pelt from me as proof before handing me a small pouch of coins. I take it and wish I had a backpack or something to put it in. "Where is the nearest store?" I ask him. Devin simply points at the Chantry and I nod in slight confusion before ignoring his reciting of the chant and walking away, a bit surprised the Chantry had a bounty for those wolves.

_"Luck, or fate? I can never decide..." Flemeth may be bat-shit crazy but she's a good philosopher._

"Hello traveler, what brings you here to the Chantry?" A fully suited Templar asks from the side of the main doors.

I blink at the Templar with a bit of apprehension, "I was wondering where a store might be Ser Templar." I say respectfully.

He nods, "I see, there are a few across the bridge just north of here. A blacksmith, potions shop, and general store to your left in a small market, the inn and tavern share a building to the right when you cross the bridge, you can't miss them."

I nod, "Thank you Ser Templar, and have a pleasant day."

I turn to walk away when I feel a plated hand grip around my left shoulder, "Sir, you seem... very odd to me. You'd better stay out of trouble while your here or not many will be willing to keep the mob from trampling a suspicious-looking elf." I raise an eyebrow at him and he lets go.

"Thanks for the warning Iron-skull." I mutter before walking away, a bit steamed at being treated so poorly simply because of my background.

_Whatever, he and all the other bigots can rot for eternity, hell I'd even feed them to a demon if I was cruel... which I am, but I have to keep away from Templars from now on, a minimum five meter birth should do it._

I shake my head and step across the bridge, noting the strange looks people are giving me as I pass them.

_A heavily armored possibly Dalish elf walking casually through a human village does raise an eyebrow or two I'd imagine._

I look left and find where that woman... Alison I believe... stood in the game there's a sign hanging from a pole, 'Miriam's Remedies' burned into the wooden sign.

_Miriam... the village elder Miriam? Huh..._

I push the door open and step inside. The shelves around me contain vials and salves of varying import and size, some dark and labeled as a certain poison, others as curatives. Surprisingly even some basic level traps and such are sold here.

_Huh, maybe Alison was standing outside the store waiting for it to open when the Warden walks by and catches her attention? Seems correct. Miriam must have ran out of supplies and decided to move outside to better service the populous._

"Hello good sir," I turn to find Miriam, looking bright and not as withered as during the game, standing behind her small counter on the far side of the room. "What ails you?"

I smile and step up to the counter, "I was wondering if you had a backpack for sale, and maybe some poultices or potions?"

_I'm definitely going to need to learn how to use those soon._

She shakes her head, "No dear, I am sorry I could sell you some poultices and mild poisons but that's just about it."

I drop my shoulders slightly, "Alright, how much for a-" I think for a moment. "-standard health poultice."

She looks around before grabbing a small rectangular wooden tin and placing it on the counter. "I sell them for twelve silver fifty copper a piece." I blink twice in mild surprise. "But if you're willing to gather some ingredients from the forest just north of here I'd be willing to teach you some of the basics, help you start your dabbling in the curative arts." She smiles at my slight shock that she sees how inexperienced I am.

I ponder it for a moment before nodding, "That is acceptable, though beyond elfroot I couldn't tell what any of the ingredients look like, or even how to handle them properly."

She nods and hands me a small book, "Here this is a book on basic Herbalism, use it to identify the plants you encounter and how to gather them. I need ten elfroot samples, five deathroot fruits, and six spindleweed stems. If you can manage to collect them by the end of tomorrow it would help me a great deal." I nod in agreement and flip through the small book to see a little bit over twenty plant species detailed inside. "Oh, and take this as well," She hands me the health poultice. "Lightly spread it onto any wounds directly to accelerate the healing process and dull the pain."

_Huh, like medi-gel._

I take it and put it in a side pocket in my armor. "Thank you, though I do not know your name, mine is-" I take a second to think of an appropriate one, "-Darien."

Miriam smiles, "My name is Miriam, I'm the elder for Lothering and one of the few still willing to hire strange elves without question to do vital tasks."

I snort a laugh and bow to her before stepping out and into the street- "Oh, by the Creators..." I gag at the stench of sweat, shit, and piss. With a slight waft of ale and throw-up drifting from the tavern across the street.

_Now I remember why people didn't live long in the medieval ages... so disgusting._

I shiver at the stench and crinkle my nose as I hold my breath to avoid breathing the sickness and micro-particles of- "Oh I don't want to think about it..." I sigh and take in a deep breath through my hand before stepping over to the tavern, feeling unfortunately like I could eat even with the horrible stench. A sign stares back at me on the front door.

Rules of the tavern:

1. No rowdiness

2. No drunken brawls

3. No smart-mouthed peoples

4. No complaining about the prices

5.-

I ignore it and push inside. Immediately a wave of stale ale hits me like a gust of wind and I feel like I might get drunk just breathing in here. I look around and am surprised by the amount of people actually here during the day.

_Don't these people have families or jobs to get to?_

I shrug and sit down at the bar, listening to the bard playing a soft tune on her lute. "What can I get for ya stranger?"

I smile at the friendly bartender, "A bowl of whatever stew you have and a mug of whatever drink doesn't taste like piss but keeps you steady." He nods and walks back into the kitchen to get my order.

_Hopefully it doesn't cost that much, I'm kind of limited on funds right now._

"Hey why don't you go back to the forest little elf?!" I look across the room at a quite drunken patron failing to get to his feet and ignore him to read up on some of the properties of elfroot as the bartender comes back with my order. He places the bowl of gray muck, a mug of relatively decent-smelling ale, and a hunk of bread to scoop up the 'stew' I'd guess.

"One silver for the stew, two for the berry ale."

I smell the ale and nod in surprise at the sweet smell to it. I gladly drop five silver down. "Keep the change." He smiles at the extra silvers and pockets them to go back to scrubbing a mug with a dirty rag.

_Oh... just ignore it, just ignore it..._

I take a swig of the ale and smile at the taste before dipping the bread into the stew and taking a bland and nearly gag-worthy bite. "Not half bad." I mutter before looking between the bowl and ale and pouring some ale into the stew and stirring it with the bread to taste it and smile at the now edible substance.

"Huh, never saw someone do that before."

I smile at the bartender before breaking a piece of the bread off and handing it to him. "You should try it, the berry ale makes the stew have a bitter-sweet taste." He stares at the bread for a moment before taking it and dipping a bit of the thinned stew out to taste. His eyes light up as he chews it.

"Andraste's holy knickers..." I laugh at his shocked expression.

"Yeah, I like to experiment with taste, it makes every meal a bit interesting yes?" He nods and ducks into the kitchen to shout, "Add some berries and ale to the stew! It's marvelous!"

"Just a pint of berry ale should do!" I shout as well.

* * *

Moments later the entire inn was a bit less sullen, people loved the 'new' stew recipe the strange elf at the bar created.

A few large gentlemen walk in at that moment to sit down at the bar as I finish off my second meal and third pint complimentary of the house for selling my 'recipe'. They look heavily armed but I don't give them any attention as I practically devoured my meal.

_Who knew I was THIS hungry?_

"A pint." The tallest and most heavily armored of the group grunts, most likely the leader.

The bartender smiles, "We have regular ale, berry ale, and dwarven ale."

The large man looks up as I watch him out of the corner of my eye. "Berry ale? What am I an Orlesian? Give me some flat ale or I'll rip your head off and feed it to Berik here." The fat as hell man next to him burps.

_Oh... how lovely..._

The bartender looks relatively frightened but I notice he's looking at me out of the corner of his eye as he turns, eying the heavily armed elf for help I'd guess. I internally sigh and wonder why I even bother to deal with drunks anymore before pounding back the rest of my ale and slamming the mug down, silencing the entire tavern. "It is unwise to threaten the person handling your food human." I say bluntly while tapping a finger against my sword hilt lazily.

The two 'alert' men turn to snarl at me while the fat ignores it, "What's a knife ear doing here? Don't you have some tree to hump or something?" They laugh at the supposedly clever joke.

I simply draw my dagger while they're distracted and stab it into the counter literally in-between the closest bandit's fingers, slicing the leather covering his middle finger and pinning his hand, unharmed, to the counter. "If you call your mother 'tree' then I indeed humped her last night." The pinned man jumps in shock and starts pulling at the dagger franticly. I grab my sword as the leader stands to draw his, I bring it up against his throat as I kick the second man's leg out so he trips and hits his head on the bar. "Tell me human, is this worth dying for?" I whisper to him, taking a page out of Isebela's book of intimidation. His eyes narrow and I press the blade against his neck, enough pressure that if he gulps, he dies.

He stares at me with wide eyes and drops his sword to clang to the ground beside us. "Leave me be knife-ear and I leave you." I narrow my eyes at him and note the fat one of them wasn't even moving, content to just watch, but I can spot a crossbow at his side in the shadows, aimed at my head.

_Damn it, it's a sure-hit if he fires at this distance._

"Agreed as long as you take your knife away from my private parts and leave after a pint." He blinks and retracts the knife I only guessed was at my crotch.

_Lucky guess._

I sheath my sword, turn, and rip my dagger from the counter, dropping the dazed man to the ground as I sit down in the dark corner near the door to watch them.

_Just far enough away to dodge the bolt if need be... I hope._

They stare at me before grumbling and sitting back down. Everyone collectively breathes a sigh of relief and the bartender winks at me in appreciation. I allow a small smile on my face before sitting back to hold my silent promise.

* * *

Just like we agreed to, the men had a pint, paid their fines for rowdiness (five silver each), and left without too much hassle. "You are a miracle worker my friend." I look up to see the bartender there with a leather pack in his hands. "Here take this." He tosses the pack at me and I grab it before it hits my face.

_Nice, actual leather... duel strapped too..._

"It's a spare pack I kept from when I used to travel, all yours now. Thanks again for all your help. You're welcome here anytime, pointy ears or no." I smile at him and nod in acceptance as I stand to shake his hand.

"I'd like a room as well, nothing special, just some place to stay for a few nights before I move on."

He stares at me as he takes the five silver from my palm before nodding. "Sure, the inn is upstairs, the ladder outside gets you up there, take the first room on your left."

* * *

When I get to my room I bar the door and plop down onto the hay mattress, still completely armed and armored, to pass out from my still weary and tiring trip through the Fade.

* * *

A/N Yeah... the chapters for this are going to stay around 5000 words so I can possibly get through Dragon Age 2 before 2015, that way I can include Inquisition. :)

Have a wonderful day!


	3. Fen-Falon and Powdered Elfroot

A/N Another Chapter for you all! Yeah that's all I got. Oh, and Scorpio's Legacy has not been forgotten, I'm just starting to get busy with the start of the fall semester coming up and am also pretty stuck on a strange part in ch. 21 so I'll keep working on it, but it's going to be a bit before I can post another chapter.

Ok, as always... Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

When I wake, I'm greeted by the musty smell of mold and stale ale. "Oh, by the Creators I need to buy some sort of air freshener soon, or maybe some cologne, that might work. These smells are just horrific." I gag as I step outside and add three more nasty smells to my list.

_Yeah, I cannot understand why people should live like this... just dig a well away from the damn city and take a daily trip to dump your waste there for god sakes!_

I sigh before noting that the sun hasn't even come up yet and climb down the ladder to start off north and towards the forest to collect herbs. I hum the tune the bard played last night as I walk down the path and check if certain plants along the side of the road were what I'm looking for. None yet.

_Miriam wanted... ten elfroot, five deathroot fruits, and four spindleweed stems? Wait no, six spindleweed stems._

I double check it with my memory and think it's probably right. I continue walking for a while, finding some elfroot growing just off the road behind some trees and such. I collect some leaves off of them, stem and all, like the book told me and tip them with my dagger to- (I look at the page elfroot is on.) '-keep the restoring liquids from slipping out during longterm preservation.' I nod and only cut down the stem after taking the leaves, I cut it into three-inch pieces and put them in my pack.

_I seriously love this pack! It's exactly like a backpack, definitely worth twenty sovereigns in the craftsmanship alone!_

Four exterior pockets, two on the back, one on each side. A strap holding two different sections apart, one part thick for carrying sharper objects or dangerous materials I guess, the other is thin enough and pricked to breath a bit.

_I never even knew backpacks properly existed in the DA universe! I thought it was all nap-sakes and such. Guess I was wrong._

The sun came up about half an hour after I left, the most brilliant array of colors I'd ever seen, even better than on Thessia. I shake my head, "I'm not going back there, I need to quit thinking about it."

After a few hours (I think, it gets difficult to tell time without a watch) I've gathered just enough to start heading back, I even grabbed some extra ingredients like a few bulbs of a blood lotus I caught growing in a clearing out of the corner of my eye. I left the plant and noted the location so I could come back later if I wanted. I even found and harvested two deep mushrooms growing at the entrance of a cave.

_ I didn't even DARE go near it with all the skeletons laying about outside. Nope, not going in there alone._

As I started to head back since I have been walking for about... probably three or four miles, I spot a caravan moving along the road and wait for it to catch up.

"Greetings traveler! Might I interest you with my fine wares?" I blink at the elf running the cart as he stops his ox and I take note of the woman and young child in the cart.

"Sure, but lets keep moving, easier to avoid bandits if you don't stop moving."

He nods, "Wise, and quite right. Please hop up and look through my cart, my wife will help you if you find anything of interest."

I smile and thank him before carefully entering the cart. "Hello, my name is Darien. I was gathering alchemical ingredients when you pulled by." I hold out my hand and the light-skinned elven woman shakes it with a friendly smile.

"Yes, I pointed you out to my husband, my name is Erianne, this is Aren and my husband's name is Owen."

I smile, "_Aneth ara_ Erianne, Aren, and you too Owen." Owen staggers and looks behind him to stare at me while walking just ahead of the cart.

Erianne stares wide-eyed at me for a moment while little Aren looks indifferent. "Y-you're Dalish?" She asks incredulously.

I nod, "I used to be, I was separated from my clan and decided to strike out on my own just recently. I made it to Lothering down the road just yesterday and took an apprenticeship with the village elder at her alchemy shop to make some coin. That's why I'm out here." I partially lie smoothly.

Erianne nods with a certain twinkle in her eye. Owen speaks up, "W-We traded with some of the Dalish just weeks ago, perhaps they were your clan?"

I look over to him as he lags behind to speak directly, "Perhaps, who was the Keeper?" I ask.

"I believe his name was Zathrian. He was weary of letting us stay in their camp so we parked our cart at it's edge for a few days and traded with Master Varathorn, t-their crafter."

I shake my head, "No that wasn't them."

"Oh, I am sorry." He lowers his head slightly in apology.

"No harm done, I'll find them eventually." I lie easily as I turn to Erianne and Owen jogs up to lead the ox again. "Now, what do you have for sale?" She shows me some potions and well-crafted armors that were definitely Dalish. Some extremely well-crafted bows and daggers as well. I pick up a steel Dar-Misu and smile at the fine curvature the blade has, perfectly balanced. I take the other for the set and twirl them in my palms before carefully dropping into a combat stance and finding the curved blade perfect for personal protection and deflection. I hand them back to Erianne, "How much for these?"

She smiles and looks them over, deep in thought, "Sixty silver each."

I rub my chin, thinking for a moment before taking out my titanium dagger and showing it to her, "This dagger is made out of a rare metal stronger than silverite, how much would you give me for it?"

She looks it over after I hand it to her and she raises an eyebrow at the strange markings along the side, "Owen could you come back here?" He stops the cart and jumps in the back as she hands him the dagger, "This is supposedly stronger than silverite but it weighs barely as much as iron!"

He looks it over before touching the sharp tip to his finger and wincing as it easily cuts into his skin. "Darien, where did you find this rare item?" He asks excitedly.

I shrug, "I found it in a ruin when I was young, it was glowing green and looks like it's enchanted." I lie again.

"Indeed? Well, then that explains the sharpness! Very nice and indeed quite rare! I know a collector in Denerim that would definitely enjoy such a priceless object!" He looks up and hands it back to me, "How much would you want to part with it?"

I mull it over in my head, "How about we trade, some of my equipment for some of yours?" I say, remembering my clawed up armor and cheap iron sword.

He nods happily, "That is acceptable. Have a look around and pick out what you like."

I smile and after about half an hour I choose a full set of actual real leather armor that fits pretty well, the two steel Dar'Misu daggers, a steel Dar'Missan longsword and a band holster to hold it all. One dagger would be on my chest and accessible by my right hand while the other is at my right side for my left if need be. My Dar'Missan is now in a holster on my back, the hilt pointed left along with my staff that sits in it's own loop pointing right. That way I could grab my staff or sword easily. I thought about getting a longbow, but it might be a hassle if it gets tangled up back there so I didn't. I gave them all my personal effects, besides the pack full of ingredients and my coin, for the trade and step off the side of the road to suit up after some difficulty.

_Leather armor is a bitch to get on right, too many straps and knots to tie. If I ever end up caught off guard without my armor I'm definitely NOT going for that first, most likely I'd get stabbed through the chest trying to get a boot tied on properly._

I turn around and notice Erianne staring at me with an open mouth.

_Was she watching me change?_

I look down and notice that the armor makes me look pretty buff. I shrug.

_Just another bonus I guess._

I walk back and am immediately approached by Erianne. "Oh thank you so much for the trade, it will help us tremendously!" Erianne hugs me and I tentatively return it, watching Owen laughing under his breath when I try to pull away after ten seconds to find her still tightly hugging me.

"Uh... you are welcome _falon_." She pulls back and kisses my cheek. I blush as I back up and hop off the cart, trying to get away from her while throwing on my pack with the ingredients as I go. "I'll keep with you to make sure you make it to Lothering in one piece, there's a lot of bandits around in the country-side." I say politely.

Owen nods, "Yes, we know. We were attacked on our way here, thankfully they were few in number and we got away unharmed." He laughs, "My wife is proficient with the bow, took two of them down before they drew their weapons, the last simply ran as she notched a third arrow and warned them to back off." I stare at Erianne as she blushes.

_Deadly..._

"You could ride in the cart with us if you want?" She asks, hope gleaming in her eyes that makes me a bit uneasy.

"Uh... no, no. I can't react quick enough if we're attacked and I'm in the cart, I'm mostly a melee warrior."

Her smile drops and she nods in understanding as I continue walking along with the cart. I look back to catch her staring at me and then blushing as she averts her eyes. Aren is still indifferently playing with something small, maybe a block? I look off to the clouds and see Erianne instantly look back at me and smile out of the corner of my eye.

_Interesting..._

* * *

We make it into Lothering by noon with no trouble at all, well, besides Erianne staring at me luridly the entire time.

_Seriously what is wrong? Am I a good-looking elf or something?_

I direct them to the markets and walk into Miriam's shop as they wave to me in thanks, Erianne blowing me a kiss over her husband's shoulder. Which I promptly cut off by closing the door.

_Nice people, kind of, strange how elves are nice to elves and humans are nice to humans, but they don't get along... some sort of cross-race societal disconnect maybe? They did enslave each other one time._

I shrug and take off my helmet to set it on the counter as I walk up. "Ah! You're back, do you have the ingredients?" Miriam states warmly.

I carefully take off my pack and unstrap the first pocket to show her the elfroot and spindleweed, then open up the second to show her the deathroot fruits.

"Splendid! You even separated the harmful reagents from the beneficial! My last helper handled deathroot with bare hands and died of poisoning on the way back from the wilds. An adventurer found his pack, but his corpse was gone. Sad, such a bright lad, if a bit agitating..." She pulls on some leather gloves and starts plucking out the items.

_Ok, I didn't even THINK about that... good thing I wore my gauntlets._

I swallow at the thought I nearly died from stupidity so soon on entering this universe.

She finishes unpacking the items and huffs as they lay on the counter, "You gathered more than enough reagents for my restock."

I stop her and open up a side pocket to pluck out the blood lotus bulbs. Her eyes light up. "I found a blood lotus plant in a clearing, it's still there and I know where it is if you want more."

"Oh..." She takes the bulbs and sets them down carefully in a metal tin before placing it back on the shelf, "Those are exactly what I need for a little experiment of mine, thank you."

I open up the other and take out the two deep mushrooms, "I also found these outside of a cave."

She nods and adds them to her stock, "You have preformed marvelously. Nearly twice the amount of ingredients I asked for as well as others I didn't, and they're all properly gathered!" She smiles brightly, "Hold on, I'll get something for you." She steps out from behind the counter with my pack and walks around the shop as I stand there, surprised myself at how much I ended up gathering. "Here we go." I look over and she hands my pack back. "These should help you out." I look inside and see a bunch of glassware that looks extremely fragile. "It's a basic alchemy station, it should allow you to brew your own items whenever you feel like it. I added a manual in there as well so you have some idea how to use reagents properly and not end up poisoning someone already bleeding out with a bad poultice or potion."

_Wow... I never-_

I look up at her and smile whole-heartedly, "Thank you so much."

She shakes her head, "No, thank you. Thanks to you I'm overstocked! In fact, why don't you come into the back so I can show you some basics on making poultices and poisons." I agree and step into her back room with her. Instantly the smell of elfroot, deathroot, and boiling water over a wood fire fill my senses, refreshing compared to the stench of the streets. She directs me to set up my beginner's station at an empty spot near the fire and she starts up her own brew. "Alright, now the first step to properly mixing deathroot extract..."

* * *

I leave late at night, two vials of weak deathroot extract I personally made in my pocket and a 'barely acceptable' health poultice in my pack. My mind filled with all the information I gained on basic herbalism and some small bits on poison making. "I can't believe that people actually BUY their poultices! It's so simple! Just grind up, mix, purify, and rehydrate some elfroot and you're good to go! It took longer to make the poison for Go- the Creators sakes!" I mutter happily while setting up my alchemy station on a table in my room at the inn. I decide to brew up a better poultice, this time with some spindleweed added to hopefully enhance it.

_All I need is a pint of boiling water and some time to prepare._

I dash downstairs and quickly buy a pint of boiling water for a few coppers and carefully climb the ladder with it stored in a few flasks in my pack. When I sit down I take an elfroot leaf and carefully grind it up into a paste before cutting a small piece of the spindleweed stem off and grinding it up separately, trying to avoid any cross-contamination as I follow a rough estimation of a recipe I saw in Dragon Age 2, the Restoration Potion, while trying to prepare them correctly in different vials and flasks for proper experimentation.

* * *

An hour later I'm ready to start experimenting and take out a Dar'Misu to cut a small wound into my thumb, just enough for it to start bleeding. I rub the small bit of elfroot salve onto it and it heals relatively quickly within a few moments just like it's supposed to. I do the same with my first mixture and find that a combination of 10 part elfroot, 1 part spindleweed doesn't do much beyond the control. I move through a few more vials, each with a small fraction of spindleweed more than the last. Nothing notable happens until about a 10E to 4S ratio. I blink after applying the drop onto the cut and shake my head as I feel slightly more invigorated, but a second later it slips away. I grab a quill and vellum I borrowed from downstairs and note in my rather terrible and shitty handwriting my very small discovery.

_It's a start. Damn it why couldn't I have just remembered the ingredient ratio from the game?! Though nothing compares to figuring out what's right and what's wrong than first-hand experience... Screw it, I'll just keep going._

I look over and groan that I needed to brew another batch of elfroot. I go grab some more water from downstairs and take more than half an hour to carefully cast a few puffs of fire at a time in an attempt to boil the water in the pot. "Damn it I need to start practicing my spells soon, otherwise I'll end up shattering my glassware from heating it too rapidly! I'm pretty sure nothing is tempered here so I could die if one explodes." I shake the thought away and set it to cook before lying down for a small nap.

* * *

I wake up, maybe a few hours later, to find the water barely warm and the new batch of elfroot nearly ruined from too much dehydration. I grind some more into a paste and add it before heating it up just a small bit magically, and nearly setting my room on fire from the plume of flame that flies out of my hand. That's when I learned a new spell on impulse, I panicked naturally and threw my hands out to freeze my entire alchemy set in a thin layer of frost. I gape at all of it as it starts to evaporate and shake my head in annoyance. "Creators... what next?"

It takes another half hour to melt everything and get the batch of elfroot to boil to perfection.

_I find that if you cup your hand when casting fire blast it concentrates the flame, making it easier to control. I just hope the Templars don't sense my magic while I'm here doing this. I'd be killed pretty quickly if I was. Or sent off to the circle, and I REALLY don't want to go there. As much as I LOVE the idea of mastering my magic I'd rather avoid being stuck in a gilded cage for the rest of my life._

I sigh in exasperation and FINALLY start up on the next part of my experiments. The next few ones invigorate me for progressively longer times.

_The last one, a 10:6 ratio, lasts ten minutes! I used my heartbeat when it's calm as a counter. I looked up the effects of spindleweed in the meantime and it seems to strengthen the immune system while adding a bit of strength back into the body, it's usually added into stews and eaten by the infirm during and after certain physical trauma to lessen physical pain and improve healing. There was even a note in it the manual to add the concentrated stem juices of an elfroot and spindleweed plant into any standard elfroot potion to add a curative to injuries. I'm not well equipped enough to do that yet, or even brew potions, but maybe one day I'll open up a potions shop and go to market with it just to wow some people. Oh! Maybe if I can add spindleweed directly into it in a salve form it could also invigorate them! A Restoration Curative Potion! I'll think about a better name later, but it could work! All I need is time and-_

I remember the Blight and then the Mage Rebellion coming up and sigh in aggravation. "Well... maybe I'll pitch the idea with a few people so it can be done and researched before Anders blows up the damn Chantry in twelve years." I shake my head and finish up my testing to find that any concentration over 10:6 actually burns the skin like a bitch and doesn't heal it at all. I use the rest of my elfroot to heal it and start thinking about how to make the whole potion. "Ok, so if a vial is barely this much..." I mentally work through some math to find out how much a single potion would need to be filled up. I frown as I figure out that it would take almost fifty vials, or an entire elfroot plant, stem and all, to fill up ONE Restoration Potion. "Well... that explains why people who brew potions grow elfroot by the bushel, and why most people enjoy poultices a lot more often since naturally they cost less to manufacture and aren't breakable." I shrug and start thinking about how I could make a Restoration Poultice as I yawn tiredly. "I'll talk to Miriam tomorrow and see if my experiments were worth anything to her." I mutter while brushing the scraps off into a flask for a future RAE-brew, or Random Assorted Effect brew, Miriam does a few of those every year just to avoid wasting ingredients and holds them for the 'adventurous' types that wander through and fall for the 'mystery potion' bit.

_Thankfully no one has died yet, that I know of, but it IS random so she gives them an anti-effect potion with it that costs a whole sovereign just in case. I average that if I made a RAE-brew right now I'd get a weak Restoration sip from it, or a corrosive acid that might cause a laceration in someone's throat when swallowed, either way it would be interesting._

I pack up the alchemy lab and make sure nothing was going to clang against each other when I need to run before plopping down on the hay mattress and passing out from exhaustion.

* * *

I wake up and wince as my face is covered in small scratches from sleeping on the hay and I have to apply a bit of a poultice using the distorted reflection off of a flask to get them to stop itching. "I swear if there's ticks in that bed I'm throwing it outside and setting a lite." I catch a whiff of my three day old stench and grind up some dried out elfroot into a power to rub on the inside of my armor. "No way am I using the water here to clean myself, I'd have to boil it more than a few times to get rid of parasites and it just isn't worth it. I'll just pick a stream in the woods and torch the water to a boil before washing my armor there. Damn it where the hell do you find soap in a medieval village?" I sigh and throw my armor back on over my bare skin since I don't think wearing a shirt and pair of pants under your armor is very smart sweat-wise. I'm surprised when I finish putting it on that my skin is nice and cool inside the armor. I also no-longer smell like a dying animal, so bonus.

_Huh, powdered elfroot gets rid of uncomfortable itchiness as well as cools you down when in armor like deodorant! Another thing to add to the recipe book. I should really buy a journal and start recording this shit properly. I might just get a mint selling a book on '100 daily uses for elfroot'._

I add journal and soap to my mental shopping list and arm myself to the teeth before grabbing my pack and leaving my room with everything I own... again.

_Only practical to keep everything you own on your back. I should add camping supplies to my list, it's getting expensive to live in an inn._

I step down the ladder and eat breakfast at the bar again, another simple meal of berry-ale stew, before checking the time via the sundial outside the chantry and smiling that it's just about ten in the morning.

_Good, just enough time to go grab some more ingredients for my experiments._

Jogging past the bewildered civilians as they stare at the extremely heavily armed elf walking through their quaint little town, I make it to the forest around Lothering without trouble and carefully step inside, mindful of the twigs, leaves, and branches that might give away my location to any predators stalking in the shadows.

I make it about twenty paces in before I find a clearing with a pack of wolves eating a dear they managed to kill. I keep clear of them and step around the tree-line to get at a spindleweed I spot. To save time and the probability of the wolves possibly spotting me, I cut down the entire plant and step back into the woods to strip off the leaves and take the stem alone since its the only useful part of it that isn't poisonous.

_Maybe I'll use the leaves one time and make a virulent poison or something._

At that thought I remember the two vials of deathroot extract in my pack and mentally go over what it does to living things since I feel like I want those wolf pelts.

_Ok, in small amounts such as a vial it eats away at the skin and prevents minor healing. In moderate amounts, a small flask, it causes slight paralysis that may spread to the lungs and heart if someone's unlucky enough to get it into their blood stream, causing total failure of those organs and a severely agonizing death if it reaches the liver first. Large amounts cause paralysis of the immediate area and easily spreads to other limbs and most definitely to the brain, forcing the individual's brain to hemorrhage, killing them instantly. Thankfully that only happens if it gets into the blood stream, if digested it has a range of four days to four hours to four minutes before it settles it and kills the digester depending on the dose. The strongest antidote is ironically purifying the juices of the plant's fruit down to about a vial amount up to a whole flask and taking it within about a certain time frame of one minute to one day depending on the amount of poison digested. Huh... so that's why Miriam only had me pick the fruit and not the entire plant._

I pack up the spindleweed stem and turn back to step up to the edge of the clearing. I can still see wolves chewing on the dear.

_I wish I had a bow right about now._

I shrug and carefully take out and uncap a small vial of deathroot extract before pouring the thin liquid down my Dar'Missan, careful not to waste any of it as it dries onto the blade.

_It's weaker when dried, but easier to apply during combat._

I take a breath, careful not to breath too close to the sword since it has been known to cause hallucinations, and start to sneak closer, using patches of bushes here and there as cover. I step on some dried grass and one of the wolves stop chewing to look up and sniff the air. I freeze, I was stupid enough to approach from up-wind, a rookie mistake in hunting. Surprisingly the wolf snorts before going back to chewing on one of the dear's legs.

_What the-?_

I smell myself and I reek of elfroot.

_Oh... well, that's another use I'll need to remember, masking your scent._

I smile and look at a bush right behind the largest of the wolves. Checking my blades I step softly and avoid the eyesight of the wolves as I get up behind the bush and ready my Dar'Missan. I take a chance as something flashes into thought and whisper, "_Fen_?" I hear one of the wolves stop eating before approaching my bush slowly. "_Falon_?" I say. A low growl starts from behind the bush and I feel my adrenaline already starting to spike. I give up on whatever my mind is trying to tell me and quickly swing my sword through the bush, catching the largest wolf in the head. A reverberating crack shakes me to my very core as the wolf's head shatters, my blade slicing into it and out again, killing it instantly. The other two wolves yelp in what sounds like shock as I quickly move to stab the one on my right with my dagger. It dodges and runs off in fear. I turn to the other one and it's growling, ready to jump at me. "_Atisha Fen-falon!_" I blurt out suddenly. The wolf stops growling and licks its lips, watching me, but no-longer completely hostile. We stare at each other and he seems to be listening.

_Holy Creators..._

I take another stupid chance and sheath my weapons to say, "_Dareth Fen-falon. Emma Darien, ma nuvenin Hahren-fen. Hamin Fen-falon._" (Peace wolf-friend. I am Darien, I want/need elder-wolf. Relax wolf-friend.) The wolf raises it's head and tilts it at me strangely before turning and running off to the edge of the clearing to sit watch me intently.

_Holy mother of- Did I just...?_

I blink at the wolf for a few more moments to see if he does anything before kneeling down and cutting into the dead wolf, working on skinning it with my Dar'Misu as I think.

_I'm not a ranger, but I am elven. Does it understand elven? If so then how and why? Is this just something my Dalish origins have allowed me to have? Some kind of aura of command?_

I mull it over as my hands deftly skin the wolf with practice only a hunter would know.

_Was he a hunter that was led astray and forcibly possessed by my soul? What was he doing out here in the first place?_

I shake my head and scrape off some last bits of flesh hanging off of the hide before folding it up and sticking it in my pack, mindful that it was about half full. I stand up and see the wolf still sitting there, watching from a distance. I raise a hand to signal it before jogging out to the edge of the clearing to watch and see what he does. The wolf howls and five more run out of the woods with him to start chewing on the corpse again. I see it look over at me and seem to nod before pushing aside the other wolves to eat first.

_Oh! I killed the elder and now THIS one is the strongest wolf! Son of a bitch I just made a deal with a wolf! I get the dead elder's corpse for a moment and it gains elder status? That is just awesome, and a bit disturbing that it understood me. I'll have to remember that for later. Might come in handy._

I turn and make my way back to Lothering, even more curious and worried about my true origins.

* * *

A/N And we find out a new connection Darien has. :) Next chapter coming soon! Oh, and Darien is classified as a Fade Warrior only in Magic. In reality he has a proficiency to use daggers and strike from shadow, so he's relatively skilled as a rogue as well. Hey, I can do what I want! In the real world you aren't limited to only learning how to fire a bow if you know how to sneak or pick locks! I personally think that if a mage only knows how to fight as a mage it's easier to find them hiding in society. If they fight as a rogue in public and a mage in private then it's a lot more difficult to notice them, unless they're reckless... ;)


	4. Marital Issues

A/N And here's another chapter for you all. :)

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

Ok, so... I got lost. Not just a few feet off to the point I just need to back-track, I fell down a hill on my way back and was knocked out when I hit some rocks.

* * *

I wake up with a terrible pain in my forehead and rub the slight bump there as I sit up. "Oh... god I hate getting hurt." Looking around I see I'm surrounded by nothing but trees. "Oh shit..." Panic starts to settle in before I trip over something and look down to gasp in surprise. A corpse, moderately rotted, lays there half-crushed by a large rock. "That is not good..." I kneel down and take a breath before searching though the person's pockets. I find about three silver and a banged up dagger that has a note tied to it. I untie it after noticing how the poor bastard's armor is caved inwards in multiple areas.

_Poor waste of life..._

Reading the small letter I frown, and read it again, and again. "That son of a bitch!" It outlines that he had stolen guild supplies from the Blackstone Irregulars and tried to join the Templar order to absolve his crimes, he was denied so he fled.

_The rest is jumbled but one could guess that he tried to flee into the wilds and ended up here._

I look down and around the rocks, and find nothing. I double-check the body and still, nothing. Looking around for any hiding spaces, grateful for the small distraction, I surprisingly find an intact barrel hidden in a hollowed out tree trunk ten paces away. I pry it open with a Dar'Misu and find it full of intact papers. I look at a few and can't understand them.

_Probably encrypted._

I reseal it and pick the small barrel up to carry it back to the dead body. When I get back I stop a few feet off and stare at the wolf sitting patiently by the corpse with two others nearby in the shadows.

_What the hell?_

I set the barrel down behind a tree and carefully weigh the options before stepping out and standing within five meters of it. I keep my hand on my sword as it looks up at me curiously. I swallow and out of desperation I whisper, "_Fen-falon_?" It... smiles?

_Holy crap I think that was a smile!_

I let go of the hilt of my Dar'Missan and kneel down as it approaches. I don't have anything to give it so I let it lick my palm before I scratch the wild dog behind the ears. "_Fen-falon-_" I mutter casually as I pet him. He looks up at me and blinks. _"-emma isala arla."_ (-I am in need of home.) It nods slightly and turns to start off into the forest but stops at the edge to turn and wait for me.

_This is interesting._

I look up and see the sun has almost set, I'd have to sleep here if I don't follow.

_I'm not fond of trying to survive another night in the woods._

I walk behind the tree and stuff the small barrel into my pack before running back to find the wolf still there with it's...

_I'll just call them lieutenants._

I nod and signal that I'm ready to go. It turns and steps at a moderate pace in one direction into the forest and I follow close behind.

* * *

One or two hours later I'm at the edge of the forest and looking out in the moonlight at Lothering. I turn to the wolf and bow, "_Ma serannas fen-falon._" It bows as well before turning with its lieutenants and doubling back to the wilds, howling out at their success.

_That was the weirdest experience ever. They actually protected me from a few bears that crossed our path, one just ran away and the other's hide is in my pack. It'll be a nice decoration or mat for my room._

I step down from the forest and manage to keep my balance as I slide down the small hill and end up in the clearing just outside Lothering. Walking back into town I find it pretty much abandoned, no-one walking about, no-one talking incessantly about this or that, even Chanter Devin went to bed. I cross the bridge and climb up to my room before dropping my pack onto the table and passing out on the floor in exhaustion.

* * *

I wake up with a headache and aching limbs from dehydration and lack of nourishment. "Oh..." Staggering outside, I take a few minutes to get down the ladder before carefully stepping into the tavern, not looking around at all and sitting down at the bar.

"You look pretty beat up friend." I nod and wave for him to get my order without looking up.

_God... I know what starving feels like but this just feels like death for some reason._

He drops the stew with a hunk of bread in it in front of me and I instantly devour it hungrily. Literally chugging my ale in seconds before sitting up and finally rubbing my sleep away. Opening my eyes I gasp as I see a demon standing in front of me, hidden behind the bartender's shape, but I can see it plainly. "What's wrong friend?" It says in a half-human half-demonic voice. I swallow.

_Oh man this is the Fade isn't it?_

I look around and everything seems slightly blurry, a bit off, or completely wrong.

_The bard is HANGING from the ceiling for the love of the Creators!_

I look back to him and decide to play along for a bit, especially since I'm unarmed. "It's just- nothing, no I'm fine. Just a bit tired from last night." He nods and steps over to pour another demon a drink.

_Ok, so I need to get back to my room and get my weapons, then I fight them off and try to wake up._

I stand up and step casually towards the door, the bartender steps into my way, "Where are you going?" He asks in shock.

"Back to my room, I need to get something." I respond normally.

The demon looks around for a moment before stepping aside and letting me pass. At this point I see it's a demon of hunger.

_Well, that explains the feeling then._

I open the door and everything flashes. Instantly I'm back in my room and there's a woman sitting at the table. She looks up as I approach, "Oh good, you're back!" She jumps up and hugs me.

_Oh, well this is just great, they think I like Erianne._

I separate from her and she kisses me on the lips, running her hands over my arms and sides as she does. I don't get into it and just let her do it for about... four minutes, give or take. Before she starts undressing and I grab her hands, "No." I state forcefully. She stares in shock at me before tearing up.

_Not going to fall for that Demon._

"No, you have a family, a husband, I will not ruin their lives for a moment of peace." I state with a hint of false pride.

The desire demon pouts before sighing and leaving. I groan at how annoying the Demons have been so far before grabbing my armor and weapons to walk out.

_What the hell..._

And into another area at a flash of light. "Seriously?" I mutter while looking around at the royal palace, or at least the Landsmeet area from the game. I walk past nobles without faces that silently watch and murmur to each other while I approach the throne, which is empty. I sit down at the behest of myself.

"Husband, the people wish to hear you speak." Looking to my right I see Anora standing there, smiling at me, and I burst out laughing. She frowns, and I laugh some more.

"Oh, by the Creators!" I shout in a mock-speech while wiping a tear from my eye. "Let there be cake! For those who dwell in the shadows can go fuck themselves!" I spread my arms wide and burst out laughing again.

"Husband, my king, your ignorance is unbecoming and rude, please speak properly when addressing the people!" Anora scolds, failing to chastise my good spirits.

I take a complete one-eighty and growl at her while stabbing a dagger into her chest, the look of shock on her face was priceless... "I know this is a ruse demon, now come and face me properly or leave to deal with the weak-minded fools of Thedas. I will not be tricked!" Everything deteriorates around me and I look around at the true Fade, twisted features, impossible architecture (at least to this world, the Protheans had some stuff like this), fuzzy outlines, just like from the game(s).

"You are stronger than I could have imagined dreamer." I turn and find the four meter tall pride demon staring at me, mouth agape, massive muscles nearly tearing it's skin apart, one hand is literally the size of my body.

_To quote Varric... Holy shit..._

"I didn't come here without being prepared Demon." I retort, trying to keep myself from stepping back in fear.

It mutters something before saying, "I have a proposition for you."

I sigh and lean back casually against a metal structure beside me in false boredom, "Very well, speak your proposal."

"I can augment your power, gift you with the control of raw Fade energy just as your friend, Pause, has failed to do." I mock-yawn. "And in return I see the mortal realm through new-"

I hold up my hand to cut off his rambling. "I have the power you half-whit. I can feel it now, I am not in the Fade when I'm awake, therefore it's impossible to 'gift' me with something that is not possible to give. Also, I personally think you would be a bad actor, I saw your hand twitch when you said 'control' now be gone!" I wave my hand and surprisingly a wave of green and purple energy banishes him from the area. I look down at my hands in shock before shrugging and looking around for something to do until I wake up.

* * *

After wandering for a bit I find a library of a sort and pick up the first book I see, 'How to cast Arcane Bolt'. "Huh." I flip through a few pages and notice it's actually full of exact knowledge required to cast Arcane Bolt. I put it in my pack and take a few minutes to collect five or six books on various spells and bonuses to mana regeneration. I even find a book on how to heal magically.

After ten or twelve minutes I grab my pack, now heavy with books, and walk over to a small reading area in the corner. I skim through a fire-training book before casting a small flame that lights the candle nearby. I smile at it and sit down in the leather chair to read up on how to better control my pyrotechnic abilities...

Hours later I close the book and feel a strange nagging feeling around me. I shrug and open up the book on Arcane Bolt as I ignore the feeling. "Oh, ok so I just need to control my mana better to cast stronger or more precise spells. Huh, I'll test it out when I wake up."

Another set of hour later and I have a severe headache from the now agitating feeling around me. I set the second book off to the side and stand up to immediately fall to the ground and pass out.

* * *

I breath in and groan at the hard surface pressing into my face as I wake up. "Oh man." I shake my head and look around to see I'm awake... I think.

_How can I test it?_

I stand and step outside to see be blinded by the sharp light. "Holy mother of..." I rub my eyes and blink until they adjust to see Lothering bustling with dozens of people as usual, birds flying about, people chatting, even a small patrol of soldiers passing through from the wilds.

_Yep, I'm definitely awake._

I back into my room and sit down at the table, going over all of what happened last night.

_Ok, hunger, desire, then pride, then I was in the actual Fade and read some-_

I blink and frown before trying to cast a small flame to light a candle I've never used in the corner. It flickers to life and I grin. "Oh that is just awesome!" I nearly shout.

_Oh man, is that how it is for all mages? Read up on some spells in your sleep and you wake up to practice what you learned? I doubt it's THAT easy._

Suddenly I remember the wolves from the forest and look at my pack, remembering the barrel. "I guess I should return it."

* * *

Downstairs I open up my pack and hand the barrel to the Blackstone Irregular representative, he thanks me and hands me thirty silver. I turn and eat the same as before at the bar, not meeting the bartender's eye, lest I remember last night and freak out.

I stop by Miriam's afterwards and ask her what happened while I was gone on 'personal business'. "Well, nothing strange. Just the usual, a few farmers need help with rats again, some sister was caught sleeping around with a patron at the inn, you know how it is." I snort a laugh. "Anyways, I was wondering where you had gone yesterday, does that scratch have anything to do with it?" I reach up and cringe at the bleeding bump on my forehead. I simply nod and she tsk's. "You adventurers. Always getting into trouble at the worst times, come with me and we'll get that cleaned up." She applies some salve and poultice to my injury before we set up our stations and start up the next lesson... antidotes.

* * *

I wave to her in thanks again and step outside of the shop just as it's getting dark out. "Huh, I never knew spindleweed leaves were a cure to spider venom AND a potent poison when purified. Surprising." I have my evening meal and hum along with the lively bunch of drunken farmers that usually wander in around midnight before going back to my room to properly pass out, pack and all.

* * *

This time in the Fade I'm not tempted by demons at all, no illusions, no problems, just me sitting in solitude, reading through a few manuals on ice magic to counter my tenacity for setting things on fire when I'm excited. It's surprisingly more difficult.

_Wait, I have to- Huh, and the ice won't..._

I frown and reread the sentence three more times before finally getting what it means and moving on to the next one.

This goes on for the entire night until I simply close my eyes while halfway through the ice magic book and wake up in my bed, fully refreshed but completely lacking any ability to cast ice at will. The most I can do is a small puff of frost that couldn't even be used to cool down a hot beverage. I was a bit disappointed in that.

_You win some, you lose some._

On the contrary, my fire spell is getting easier to control, just one bit by bit. Right now I can boil water without feeling like I'm going to burst into flames so it's going alright I guess. I'm weary of casting anything too large during the day since the Templars patrol the streets between dawn and sunset. "You'd think they'd also have a night patrol but nope, they all go to sleep like the rest of us." I mutter while brewing up another vial of anti-venom from the spindleweed leaves I found in the bottom of my pack. After I finish I eat my breakfast and go to Miriam's shop to talk about my ideas on poultices and potions.

* * *

That night I set up my station in my room around midnight after double-checking that the Templars went to bed and start my work.

_Miriam liked my idea of a Restoration Poultice and gave me permission to use her stock for my experiments as long as I share my findings._

I stir the flask of spindleweed potion carefully, trying to see if it's ready for the boil. I deem it alright and hold it up while casting a small flame under it. The liquid bubbles from the direct heat source and moments later most of the water has boiled out, leaving the paste I wanted. I set it aside and do the same with a flask of elfroot before taking a spoon and scooping out five spoons of elfroot and three of spindleweed, with different spoons of course. I mix them together and put the mushy yellow-green paste into a flask of it's own before adding water. I stir it properly and pour a small bit into a vial before boiling the vial's water out completely with the candle's flame and dumping the small lump of light green paste into a bowl. I do the same thing with different water amounts still present all the way up to just a pouring from the main flask itself. "Ok, so how am I going to do this..." I think about it before taking my dagger and cutting a line down my palm and applying the first completely dehydrated paste to it. I bite-back a curse as it stings like a mother fucker but heals the cut none the less, no resulting invigoration. I note it in the journal Miriam gave me to record in and keep going through the line of ten.

* * *

Hours later, and after swearing multiple times at the burning sensation on my skin, I finally find one that has a slight tingling feeling that I'll assume is invigoration while not completely burning the skin on contact.

_Or maybe my palm is just numb now._

I switch palms and find its the same on that one as well.

I look at the concentration and it's at about 60% hydrat-

*BOOM BOOM BOOM*

I Jump out of my seat, throwing my chair back as someone bangs on my door. I grab at my Dar'Missan quickly and ask wearingly, "Who is it?" My heartbeat is going a hundred miles a minute.

_Is it the Templars? Have they found me? What do I do? Do I fight? Do I run? Do I-_

"Open up!" A woman shouts before I hear a sniffling sound from behind the barred door.

_Wait... what?_

I carefully unbar the door and it flies open and I'm grabbed by someone. I stagger back in a panic and fall on my ass as moonlight floods into the room. "Get off of-" I freeze as I find Erianne laying on-top of me, sobbing.

_Wha-?_

I bring both of us to our feet and sit her in a chair before closing and baring the door again just in case. "Erianne what are you doing here? How did you even find me?" I ask softly, completely surprised.

She sniffles and looks up, eyes puffy and red, she'd been crying for a while. "I-I didn't know where else to go!"

I pull up a spare chair from the corner and pull the candle over to get a better look at her. I gasp as I see her face is cut up and her neck has a hand-shaped bruise on it. "Who did this to you?" I ask in horror.

She bursts into tears and I hold her, feeling conflicted emotions of rage and compassion all the while. "He did this!" She holds me tight as she sobs and I have to grind my teeth to keep myself from crying as well.

_Damn my oversensitive empathy!_

I fail and a tear rolls down my face. I pull back after a moment to look her in the eye, "We can talk about it after I clean you up ok?" She just nods, wiping her petite nose onto her sleeve as she shakes in despair.

_Poor girl._

I turn and look over the alchemy station to see if I had any regular poultice left, thankfully there's a small bit of the tin left, just enough to close up the cuts on her face and maybe layer her thin neck. I gently lift up her chin and dab the cool salve to her skin. She stares through me as I do so, mind lost and unfocused.

_She's reliving it, like I used to during my first two lives, I can tell by her twitching jaw._

I snap my fingers and she focus on me, "Hey, hey, look at me, focus on me, he can't hurt you anymore. I want you to stay focused on me from now on, you understand?"

She tears up and sniffles before nodding. I take a bit more salve and dab a few more cuts on her cheeks. "Thank you." She whispers after a moment.

I smile, "No need _Lethallan_, I'm always here to help." She sniffles and frowns at the strange word. I clarify as I finish up the cuts on her face and go to rub the rest on her bruised neck gently, "_Lethallan_, it means cousin or clan-mate. It's used to represent people you care for more than just _Falon_, just friends." She blushes through her tears and I stutter out an explanation, "N-not like that! It's between love and friendship, just think about it like... how you love your mother." Her blush drops, and so do her shoulders and head slightly.

_Man, are all elves so expressive with their body language?_

"But I'm open to getting you know you better, see where this go-" I remember her family and blink. "Wait, aren't you married?" I ask with a raised eyebrow as I stop my dabbing for a moment to look her in the eye.

She stares at me before looking away, "I... Aren isn't mine if you want to know. Owen... cheated on me after we left the Alienage in Highever."

_Oh, I'm going to beat his skull in with a Dar'Misu!_

I bar my teeth in disgust, "He cheated on you? Wait, how did Aren come to be with you?"

She winces at my anger and I cover her fidgeting hands with one of my own, "The- the _whore_ was a Chantry sister and sh- she didn't want to keep the child, 'her father would have killed it' Owen had said." I catch the malice in her soft voice as she speaks. "We brought it with us, how could we abandon a child?" She shakes her head, "He's six and a half now and every time I look at him I'm reminded of how easily Owen cheated." She tears up. "How- *sniff* How he shouted that it was MY fault for not being his whore!" She bursts into tears again and I hold her, seriously close to hunting down Owen and slicing his throat for all the pain he's caused. "Aren doesn't even like me! He hates me! He cried whenever I held him as a babe and still pushes me away when I hug him!" She sobs heavier.

_I can throw him to the wolves I know and they can get rid of the body, Aren can be adopted by the Chantry and Erianne can finally be free of this nightmare by selling off their entire cart of supplies. She could go somewhere and start over._

_..._

_Did I really just put together a plan to kill a man and get away with it in under two minutes? Whatever, I blame gaming._

"I-I... I can't live like this anymore!" She cries out through her sobs. I rub her back and sigh shakily, my own emotions nearly too much for me to hold back.

"Did he do this?" I ask, knowing the answer already. She simply nods into my shoulder as she sniffles. I growl out darkly, causing her to yelp in surprise. "Where is he?" I ask, my eyes definitely in 'murder mode' by now.

She stares at me with her wide chocolate-brown eyes incredulously, "Y-you want t-to kill him?!"

I check my plan, throat, wolves, Chantry, sell cart, new life. "Yep, I got a plan to give you a new life." I say confidently. She just sniffles in shock. "You do want him to pay for this right?"

She bites her lower lip and nods, "I don't want Aren to be hurt though! Maker knows he doesn't deserve Owen as a father, but he deserves a normal life at least!"

"He will, in the Chantry." I state bluntly. She blinks in confusion. I explain, "He gets adopted as a new recruit in the Chantry and has a life full of devotion and purpose, not deceit and false promises."

She sniffles, "And you think we can get away with killing Owen? He's a master duelist!"

_Wait what?_

"We? Wait, master duelist?! What?!

She nods, "I want to help, make sure he gets what he deserves and you'll need me, he's one tough son of a whore." I blink at her in shock. "I'm a good shot with a bow, I-I can do some moderate poisons. I'm pretty good at sneaking..."

"Erianne-" I start.

"Please! Please let me help! I'll do anything to see it when that sick bastard finally dies!"

I hold her by the shoulders, "You're committed to this?" I ask, staring into her eyes intently, wondering if she, or I for that matter, could do this.

_A Master Duelist... Fuck my life..._

She nods, her tears gone and resolve entwining with the natural fury in her eyes, "I want to murder that piece of crap." She nearly growls out.

"Alright then." I smile. "You know I never thought I'd say this but lets go murder a master duelist!" She smirks and kisses my cheek before standing, "I'll get my gear and meet you back here in a bit, I have some things I need to wrap up."

I catch her by the arm, "Be careful, he's going to be desperate if he sees you armed, he might end up doing something he'll regret."

She plucks her thin but wiry arm out of my light grasp and saunters silently to the door before unbarring it and looking back, "Don't worry, I know how to skin a pig." and she's gone. The door closes and I sit back in the dim light, mulling over what I just promised.

_To kill a wicked man and give two people a second chance at life, and destroy a family in the process... Ok maybe I'll just justify it AFTER I slice his throat and feed him to the wolves. Huh, now I know where that saying comes from, 'fed to the wolves' go figure._

I think about how else we could prepare and check how much deathroot I grabbed from Miriam's shop.

_Two roots, that should work. Well, I hope it'll work, a master fucking duelist?! Creators my luck just went from shitty to awesome to apocalyptic within three days!_

I quickly brush my experiment to the side and take a clean flask of water, working quickly to brew two doses of deathroot extract.

* * *

The door flies open an hour later and I quickly put out my flame and stare at Erianne in shock as she carries in a large trunk and throws it on the bed, flattening the hay mattress. "There, everything I own. I'm ready." She shuts and bars the door before looking over at what I'm doing. "Uh, you have an Alchemy station here?" She asks in surprise.

I just nod before shaking my head clear and going back to stirring the thick half-flask worth of concentrated deathroot extract carefully. "Yeah, if you know how to, you can help out by cutting up the other deathroot for me, I need to add it into the mix, I'm shooting for a sludge-like substance to coat our weapons in. You said he's a master duelist?" She nods. "This'll give us the edge we need."

_I've decided normal poison isn't going to be enough, this'll be just strong enough to slow him down if we can't catch him off-guard._

She sits down and I notice she's wearing full Dalish Leather armor without the helmet, her long brown air pooling around her shoulders and cascading down her back in light curls. She notices me staring and blushes. I do as well and go back to the brew.

_I'll think about that when I'm not handling dangerous poisons._

I lift the flask and frown at the muddy liquid. "Damn it, I'll need to dehydrate it."

She looks over as I reach for the candle and shakes her head, "No that won't do, you need to boil it quickly at a high temperature to get the naturally poisonous oils out."

I look at her before sighing, "Ok, but I need to ask you something first. What's your stance on the Circle?" She frowns, "The Circle of Magi."

Her thin brown eyebrows raise up as she thinks for a moment. "My brother was a mage, I didn't like it when he was taken and I don't really understand why they need to be locked up."

"Good." I light a flame and she gasps. I ignore her stare and quickly boil the poison, weary of how the glass seems to warp at the intense heating.

_This thing had better not shatter!_

I finish boiling it down and quickly pour it into another flask before casting frost onto the bottom of the warped one, it cracks but doesn't shatter thankfully.

_Oh thank the creators..._

"Y-you're a mage?!" She yelps.

I cover her mouth and shush her. "Quiet! The Templars might be asleep but others might not be!"

She blinks before nodding in understanding. I pull my glove back to reveal her smirk, "Maker, I never expected that! But I guess it does make alchemy much easier if you can just cast away some heat and cold- whatever."

I nod and take the bits she cut up one by one to grind them into a powder and add to the steaming flask of poison.

_Ok, that's done. What else could I make? We'll need all the edge we can get._

"Hey, can you grab the spindleweed leaves from my pack? They're brownish-red with golden veins." She nods and starts digging through my pack.

"Here, there's three but they're kind of dried out." She hands me them and I smile, they still had their red hue.

"Perfect, hand me the pure water over there and another bowl." She does and I grind them up before adding a small bit of water to it and boiling out the natural coagulant inside the leaves. I decide to explain it to her, "Spindleweed leaves have a red hue because of a toxin that they use to keep animals from eating them in nature. This toxin... I guess you could say it rots the blood, makes it thick and difficult to pump, maybe even clot inside arteries." Her eyebrows shoot up. "Yeah, powerful stuff, it's deadly but only if it gets into the bloodstream directly, so aim for the arteries when using it."

She smiles, "Wow, that's a good thing to know and very useful!"

"Yeah, tell that to children that like to chew on them for the numbing agent in the stems." I mutter with disdain.

She gulps at the implication.

I focus myself and get to work on the higher-level poison. I boil, stir, crush, stir, boil, crush, stir, boil, boil, rehydrate, boil, crush, stir, and finally boil the small half-vial amount of the poison to the first stage before doing it again, and again until all that remains is a vial of poison brewed to relative perfection, determined by the sharp red hue to the clear liquid inside the vial. "There's a good chance that we can beat him if we can hit him with this first."

She takes an arrow out of her quiver, "I'll hit him with this, you said a critical shot and he'll be beatable?"

I nod, "He might be beatable, if he's a master duelist then he might just dodge the arrow and we'd end up screwed. How good is he?"

She looks off into the distance, "You know that Chantry sister whose Aren's real mother?"

"Yeah?" I raise an eyebrow in question.

"Her father was one of the best warriors in Highever, quick as a rabbit." I watch her as she looks at me with a blank expression, "Owen killed him in under half a minute."

I gulp, "Yeah we definitely need this. I'll distract him while you get the shot, try for his neck. If it hits the leather it might smear off before the arrow pierces his skin." I shake the vile a bit and look at our one hope that sits in a vial the size of my pinky finger. "How good a shot are you?"

She scoffs, "Please, my mother taught me all she knew and she could take down a flying bird at a thousand paces with one shot. She WAS Dalish after all."

I snort a laugh, "I hope so, we're going to need it." I mutter quietly as we quickly start brewing a few health potions, pushing to finish up a few before dawn's first light.

* * *

A/N And we introduce a plot twist. Darien is a sucker for the 'damsel in distress' bit isn't he. Find out how it goes in the next chapter! ;)


	5. Stealing More Than Just Children

A/N Lets see if Owen's bloodline survives...

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

Fingers tight. Blood pumping. Hundreds of obstacles. One target. One chance. Bow stringed tight. Eye squeezed shut. "Focus, breath in." In goes a breath. "Breath out." The wisp of air leaves the lungs to join the gentle breeze riding through the morning air.

Erianne lets the tension leave the bow and sighs as she repositioned herself on the tree branch she chose to shoot from, high up in the air, but Darien would be on his own for a moment if she misses. It was nerve-wracking, waiting for the prey to appear from his tent, waiting for him to wake and notice she wasn't there at his side for his morning blowjob. She snarls in anger at having to deal with him for so long, be scared of him for so long, but now SHE was the one in power, SHE was going to decide his fate, and SHE wasn't going to let HIM live this time. A rustling in a bush beside the small camp alerts her to Darien's presence. Seeing Darien make Owen cower so easily, even if he hid it well, gave her the courage to defy her master. The courage to stand up and take his blows until he decided she was better alive then dead. The courage to sneak out at night and seek Darien out to plot her master's demise.

"It's time." She whispers to herself as the sun pops up over the horizon. Erianne pulls a strain of her bangs back behind her ear, she chose to cut her hair and wrap it in a small pony tail to show her defiance, Owen hated short hair, forced her to grow it out because he enjoyed it. "Not anymore." She notches the poisoned arrow and watches as Darien throws a concoction he made into the campfire. He called it a RAE potion. It shatters and surprisingly ignites in a burst of flames that lights up the area with a low boom. Erianne shakes her head clear of her surprise and focuses, one shot meant life or death to them. Owen jumps awake and runs out of his tent a moment later in his hardened leather armor, blades already at the ready, looking around at the burning campsite around him, Darien uses the distraction to knock out Aren and drag him into the bushes while Owen screams in anger at Erianne's absence. "One, you defiled the sanctity of our marriage. Two, you forced me into servitude through fear. Three, you're a disgraceful waste of flesh." She lets go of her anger and the arrow is let loose. All time slows as it catches the wind perfectly and flies directly into Owen's neck a moment later, it turns and pierces through the skin to exit and pin itself to the ground, causing a small gash on Owen's neck. The poison would work to their advantage beautifully.

"Ah!" She smiles at his pained cries before notching another arrow to cover Darien for the tough fight ahead of them.

* * *

I watch the arrow snap as it hits the ground and jump out to quickly swipe a cut into Owen's side, it connects and my poisoned Dar'Misu scrapes against his lowest rib before exiting. "_Ma halam_ Owen!" (You are finished Owen!) I scream as he staggers back in shock and confusion.

He quickly recognizes me and recovers to jump in for a quick-jab to the gut that I barely dodge, another arrow hits him to stagger his balance and allow another of my cuts to hit him critically. The curved blade catches his shoulder, cutting through a tendon there.

Owen screams in pain but doesn't stop, nor lose mobility in that arm.

_What is this guy made of?!_

I cross my blades to block another jab and he kicks me back, catching me off balance just long enough to cut a gash across my breastplate, I pull back enough to avoid getting hurt but he made a chink in the armor. "_Ar tu na'din!_" (I will kill you!) He blinks when I shout again and I cut him deep for his distraction. He staggers back, my Dar'Misu now sticking out of his left shoulder.

"Ah!" He pulls back and rips it out, just missing getting hit by another arrow.

I draw my second dagger and duck under my first as he throws it at me. "You are a coward!" He screams.

I twirl my fresh dagger and notice he's slowing down a bit, the spindleweed and deathroot taking effect already. He lunges again in a furry of attacks and that manage to break my defense and toss my longsword out of my hands. I barely block another critical chance that just manages to slice my cheek. I wince at the wound before pulling back as an arrow misses me by an inch and hits him in the chest. He yells out and drops his daggers to clutch at the arrow buried deep withing his chest before falling to the ground and look up past me, right at where Erianne is firing from the trees. A second arrow instantly pierces through his left eye to bury deep within his skull. "Damn!" I yelp in surprise as he hits the ground with a thump. I take off a glove and check his pulse just in case before waving for Erianne to come down. Owen was dead, her tormentor was dead and she now has a new life. She starts jogging from the tree a few dozen meters away but stops and screams, "Darien!" As she notches an arrow and lets it fly. I duck instinctively and hear it sink deeply into some soft flesh behind me. I turn and see Aren, an arrow in his head, and my poisoned dagger clutched in his little fists as he fell to the ground.

_No..._

I catch the child of barely seven as he drops the dagger larger than his whole arm, a dead look in his eyes. "No..." I whisper in disbelief and horror.

_He was protecting his father..._

"Darien are you alright?" I look over my shoulder at Erianne and she has a tear running down her face as she approaches. I don't need to ask why she did it. I simply nod, even though my cheek stung from the deep cut Owen made there. I couldn't feel it though, I felt numb.

_A child... a child died for me..._

I shut my eyes tight as I lay Aren down and cross his arms respectfully.

_Why... fucking why?_

She lays a hand on my shoulder as I silently weep, "He was misguided, it wasn't our fault. We thought he was unconscious." I shake my head and look up at her to see her own eyes tearing up with remorse.

_She just killed a child she raised herself to save me... why am I more important than a child's life? He could have just stabbing me! He-_

I shake my head, "Why did you-? No I know why you did it, a reflex, to win the battle and save me." I mumble as I get to my feet.

She hugs me and I hug her back, just taking in the torrent of emotions that were tearing my soul apart.

* * *

We end up burning the bodies in the campfire. Aren got a proper funeral and left with his favorite toy, a dwarven puzzle box. Owen got only the flames for comfort. I manipulated the fire to burn them quickly so Erianne mourned her past life but not be forced to suffer the agony her actions brought for too long. We then raided the camp and anything that wasn't able to be sold later was thrown in as well. I made sure that we gathered every arrow and bloodied murder weapon before burying them with campfire's ashes to hide our actions.

_Owen was using MY dagger during the fight. I buried it with him. No need to keep it as a tie to my past when I know I can never go back, not after how I left._

Erianne stayed silent during the work, she was smiling, but tears were in her eyes.

_This is the start of her new life, but she took the life of someone she wanted to save. I can imagine the conflicted emotions fighting for control inside her._

* * *

Three hours later we pack up the cart and go into town, selling everything at half price to anyone who wants them. Of course this brought everyone in Lothering out to buy wares from the strange elves that just arrived in town. I disguised myself in a basic shirt and pants while tying back my hair. I played the merchant and introduced 'Talia' as my 'partner.' She chose to wear her armor since she refused to wear anything Owen bought her. I reluctantly agreed since it kept the customers intimidated.

By noon we sold nearly everything but a few pieces of armor and weapons. Which were the damaged armor and weapons from their failed bandit ambush. I traded up to veridium weapons and hardened leather armor since we technically owned everything in the cart. Erianne and I even found an ironbark bow for her in Owen's stash. She hugged it to her chest and said it was beautiful before firing an arrow into a nearby tree. A second later a dead bird fell out and she laughed at my shocked expression. Overall after selling the damaged armor and weapons to the blacksmith we gained just about a hundred sovereigns each from everything and another twenty from selling the cart itself to another merchant that took half our stuff.

"I think that went well." I say to Erianne when we get back to my room at the inn.

She sits down in a chair. "Yeah, I've got-" The loop holding her coin purse breaks, dropping the sack of gold and causing a huge strain on the floor boards. "Ok, I'm going to need a chest or something."

I chuckle and nod in agreement as I carefully place my own onto the table, careful not to crush any glassware with the easily fifteen pound sack of gold. The table legs creak from the strain. "It's definitely enough to start a new life."

She scoffs, "Or twelve."

I snicker and take out a handful of gold coins stamped with the Ferelden symbol, a mabari. "Yep, I'm surprised there were these many sovereigns in Lothering!"

She looks up from her own bag and scoffs, "Why did you think we came here? This is the trading center for the entire south half of the country! It links up with Gwaren to resupply half of Ferelden's southern farmland! There's A LOT of coin around here."

I shrug and pick her trunk off of the bed and set it on the floor, kicking up some dust. "There's only one bed so..." She raises an eyebrow at me as I turn to look at her, "Did you want another room or something? I can sleep on the floor if you want to save the coin." She smiles and stands up. "What do you want to do?" I watch her as she steps closer, still smiling, to trail one of her fingertips across my cheek, I wince as she touches the cut I forgot to heal.

_It'll definitely scar now._

Her face goes blank as she grabs some balm and carefully re-opens the wound to dab some poultice onto it. "You are a very handsome man Darien, it'd be a shame if you let this cut scar your face."

"It would have been appropriate, giving the circumstances." I state quietly, remembering the horror of watching Aren die.

She snaps her fingers and breaks me from the memory, "Hey, you don't get to feel sorry for that, it was my call, I decided who was worth-" She takes a deep breath. "-keeping alive." I look away. "Besides, you look terrible when your sullen."

I scoff, "Is how I look all you care about?"

She looks at me and I swallow at the glint in her eye as she dabs some more salve on a cut on my left arm I didn't even know I had. "Not everything..." She says airily.

I look at her, actually at her, for the first time and see the strong yet soft features outlined in her face, the toned muscles in her arms and shoulders that make her strong enough to string any bow and fire it with precision. "You yourself are quite beautiful Erianne." I say quietly.

She stops dabbing and looks up to meet me in the eye. We stare at each other for a few moments before she steps closer so our noses were almost touching. "I've known since the moment I spotted you along the side of the main road that I'd never be free without you, never live without you." She smiles lightly, "I thought I was looking for someone to free me from Owen's wrath, but I never thought I'd find a friend as well." She looks away and bites her lower lip, "My heart wants you, but I'm unsure if it's speaking the truth. What does your heart say?"

I close my eyes and take in a deep breath, thinking about it, what I want, what I need... and she isn't it.

_I'm here to stop this universe from falling apart, not start a relationship only for it to be whisked away and shattered in one fell swoop._

I sigh and open my eyes, "I do not- My heart isn't set on you alone." She stares at me intently. "I'm not looking for a relationship right now, perhaps comfort, but I cannot give my heart to someone right now."

_Not again, not after- not after what happened in my last life._

She sighs, "I... I'm sorry, I feel so close to you, and I shouldn't force you to be with me." She backs up a step and I take a step towards her.

She watches me curiously as I reach up and gently cup her cheek, "If you wish for one night, I'm willing to give it to you," Her eyes light up. She goes to respond and I raise a finger to her lips to cut her off, "But, I'm NOT having sex in that bed." I point to the straw mattress in the corner. "It's full of ticks and other disgusting bugs that I don't want crawling on me in the night."

She laughs, "You? The person that devised a near-perfect plan to kill my husband within two minutes, are afraid of a few bugs?" She smirks.

I blush, but subdue it and lean closer to kiss her on the lips, she returns it gently just before I pull away. "I think making love under the moonlight is much more enjoyable don't you?" Her eyes widen and she immediately blushes. "Oh, so you do? Huh..." I place my hands at her waist. And pull her into a forceful kiss that she receives gladly, wrapping her own arms around my neck to deepen the kiss but I pull away. "Not yet." I whisper. She frowns.

"You have done this before yes?" She asks with a raised eyebrow. I roll my eyes.

_I have had A LOT of experience in this type of thing in my last life, not so much in my first though. Strange._

"Yes I've done this before. Now come on, I know a good spot just outside of Lothering." I grab the bedroll I kept from the cart and throw on my armor, as well as everything I own before packing everything else up within ten minutes and heading out with Erianne, encumbered by her own trunk.

_Why we took everything with us I have no idea, no wait yes I do, thieves flock to huge sacks of gold in the night._

I lead her out to the clearing where I met the wolf that understands me and we set up a tent she brought with. I throw down some branches and light them up using my magic before laying down the bedroll and setting everything off to the side, including my armor. "Oh, I forgot how... fit you are." I turn around, still in my small clothes and my heart hits the back of my sternum. Erianne steps from the darkness, wearing nothing. Not even the leather strap she used to keep her hair up is there anymore. I look her up and down, admiring how beautiful she really was before catch her staring at me, specifically my small clothes.

_Awe hell with it._

I throw them off and step up to her, realizing how heavy we were breathing already. "You-" I cuts her off with a kiss as our bodies slam into each other and I lower her onto the bedroll for a night of passion I'm sure my three lifetimes of knowledge will guarantee she never forgets...

* * *

"I'm in the Fade, lovely..." I look around and sigh before stepping over to the section where the library is and taking a few books from the shelf to read for tonight. "Let's see... 'Knowledge of the Arcane Arts' nope, 'Birds: Animals or Demons in Disguise?'" I snort a laugh and file away a mental note to tell Shale about that one later. "Ok here we go, 'The Primals: Fire and Ice' this should work." I walk over to where the chair usually is and stop when I see a campfire and Erianne and myself snuggling up to each other, still naked, next to the burning campfire. I smile at the nice memory and watch as Erianne wraps an arm around me.

_Wait..._

I look at my face and nod in approval, "Huh, so that's what I look like. I'm actually pretty handsome, for an elf." Suddenly the entire image changes and a shadowy figure appears by my pack and literally takes all my shit while I'm laying there! "Hey!" I shout.

_I know they can't here me, but god damn it the fucking thieves found us!_

I growl angrily at the predicament before I see the shadow return and pick ME up and take me with them. "What?! What the hell?! God damn it!" I blink and I can see that the fire has gone out and the next day has started. Erianne wakes up and looks around worriedly, I can see the hurt in her eyes that I wasn't there when she woke up. "Ok, whoever just kidnapped me had better know I'm a mage or I'm going to burn their mother fucking entire compound down and piss on their ashes!"

I grumble as the chair comes back and I light the candle begrudgingly, knowing I'd wake up when I wake up, not before, or after. I was stuck here. "Ok, new plan. Learn how to hurl a fire ball from my hand, wake up, and slaughter every asshole in my way." I nod to my new plan and start reading up on the properties of fire magic, including how to create a fireball.

* * *

I gasp awake and wince at the burning in my eyeballs. I breath in cautiously at the weird stench of deathroot and then sigh at the feeling of being in an actual bed. "Oh... my head..." I swing my feet around blindly and plant my feet onto the cool stone floor below me.

_Where am I?_

I shake my head and blink until my sight returns to find I'm in a small hut. There's a pot on the fire, a library of books to the left of that, a door-

_Oh no fucking way..._

I stand up and look around, checking that everything was where it was. I even pick up a book and saw it was in some other language, maybe Tevinter. "Yep, every thing's here."

_Well fuck me sideways... I was kidnapped by Flemeth._

_…_

_You know what? I think that's actually for the best. I need to learn how to control my magic and it'll take more than just two and a half years of dream-cramming to get to the point I need to be to help the Warden, or even stand a chance against Darkspawn. Seriously, all I've fought so far is a pack of wolves, a bear, and a severely disorientated and poisoned Owen. None of them truly putting a living breathing warrior up against another on equal terms._

"Hopefully that can be rectified soon." I mutter quietly while flipping through a specific book on how to build up an Arcane shield.

"Well well, you finally awake. Mother will be pleased." I try and not jump with giddiness when I hear her voice.

"And I am quite overjoyed to be kidnapped by strangers, thankfully I'm willing to follow along with this ordeal." I turn to look at her while closing the book and resting it at my side.

Morrigan tsks, "Tis not a kidnapping if the victim is willing to leave is it not?"

I nod, "Yes, yes, my name is Darien by the way, a pleasure to meet you." I incline my head politely.

"Well that is a proper civil greeting, even here in the wilds, you may call me Morrigan." She states plainly, watching me like a hawk as she does so.

I look down and notice I'm in my small clothes, "I thank whoever was polite enough to leave me with my small clothes, though I would appreciate something to wear, as to not offend my host."

Morrigan rolls her eyes and walks over to the bed before taking a shirt and some pants from a chest and tossing them at me. I don't wait for her to turn around and put them on. "Ah, now then," I meet her golden eyes. "You said something about a mother?" She lazily nods. "Then I wish to see her and find out the terms of my captivity."

"You do not seem against the idea, curious. Most would not enjoy the idea of being enslaved." Morrigan says curiously.

I shrug and turn to walk for the door. "I'm a little over a eighty years old now, not much really surprises me anymore." I hear a slight hesitation in her footsteps as she follows me thanks to my elven ears.

Opening the door I find that the swamp smells... good. A bit earthy but overall a major improvement to Lothering. Even the woods around Lothering had an air of decay to them. I step up to the edge of the pond surrounding the hut and take in a clean un-tainted breath of fresh air. "Ah so here you are."

I turn abruptly from the swamp to come face-to-face with one of my favorite characters in all of Dragon Age. I look her up and down and tsk, "I have to say, you look dreadfully withered for the amount of power your elderly bones must muster."

Flemeth scoffs, "And you are one to talk, so young and foolish to suggest that power comes from appearances!"

I fold my hands behind my back as we are having a little bit of an insanity duel. "Let the dying fly provide the ointment for the beautiful hag, yes?" Morrigan barks out a laugh at my retort.

Flemeth frowns, "Yet what beauty is seen in an age of poverty and destruction that you might find on the tides of fate?"

_Oh... good one._

I respond with, "Burning the staff on both ends without lighting the torch or crossing the sea are we?" Morrigan lifts an eyebrow and looks between us like we were both touched in the head.

Flemeth nods, "Now all are flies in the ointment, a whisper in the wind, a wave in the ocean..." She smirks at me, "You are just as insane as I am young man." She chuckles and I do the same.

"Could someone tell me what is going on?" Morrigan asks.

I meet a gaze with Flemeth and I smirk, letting her have this one for the victory. She looks at Morrigan lazily, "What you and you alone see is not what we see dear girl." Morrigan huffs and walks back to the hut.

I watch her until she disappears inside before turning to Flemeth to ask a question, "Why have you brought me here?"

She laughs, "I have not, you have." I frown. "Along the paths you have chosen, the decisions you made thus far have caused ripples across the tapestry of fate. You are no longer writhing within the ointment, you are the one that decides it's use Drifter." I close my eyes at the word, trying to remember what Pause said about the last Drifter before me, the one what failed.

_'The last Drifter nearly killed herself trying to return to her own realm... She was a person of great power, but limited mental strength. One who chose to dance over the plots of her universe and not pluck the strings of fate. She was permanently scarred and as such never could survive the transfiguration process of the Fade. She instead chose to use the power of the Fade to destroy herself, rather than be forced to live with the guilt of what her desperation costed her people.'_

My eyes fly open and I see Flemeth watching me, arms crossed. "Alright." She raises an eyebrow. "I am a Drifter." She smiles. "I am the one who controls the fates of the many and the choices of the few, yet sees to my own path as if it is not only fate, but chance deciding whether I begin or end at the same place."

She barks out a laugh, "Oh you I like! You may have the body of a twenty year old, but the wisdom of an age-old. Tell me, what year were you born?"

I blink lazily, "In which universe?"

She laughs before scowling deeply, "Your own!"

"1994"

She smiles, "1982, it seems we are from the same era."

I watch her for a moment before it clicks, "You're the last Drifter..." I breath in shock.

She nods, a wistful look in her eye, "Oh yes, it was quite some time ago, in this very universe actually, that I came to be my own legend."

"But... Pause told me she was from four ages ago." I say quietly.

She laughs, "Pause is simply a pawn of mine. A limb, or perhaps a finger, a foot?" I blink at her high degree of insanity, "I am as old as the first Blight, I'll say that much to you Drifter." I nod to her. "You must build your own legend, find paths you might desire and seek what you will."

I growl angrily, "Why did you bring me to your hut then? I WAS on my own path."

She shakes her head, "You were on a path of destruction, I watched you for many a day and noticed something strange... you see the fade for what it truly is... a rare magic indeed." She lobs a blast of something at me and I instantly try and block it with my hands. The weak arcane bolt bounces off a wave of green energy with ease just before both wink out of existence. I stare down at my hands in surprise.

_What instinct is this?_

"What possessions we grasp must not reach the rabbit hole hmm?" I find myself at a loss for words as she turns to pick up a bundle of clothes I hadn't noticed before and toss them at me. I catch them with ease. "Take these, they will help you learn to control your unique power."

I look the garments over and hold them up my the shoulders to find she gave me essentially the male version of Morrigan's robes. Black leather straps that cross over the bare chest with blood-red tipped black feathers that conceal two knife holsters and a small pouch for bottle of poison for quick application I'd guess. A wrap of thick black velvet covers most of the waist with burgundy leggings that end in flimsy cloth shoes, terrible for protection, masterful for stealth missions. A single fingerless glove to cover the right hand as well as all the way up the right arm to the neck where the last part of the black velvet lays as if it had crawled up the back and bit through the wearer's throat, forming a hood to conceal the face when need be. I can feel it pulsing to my touch with energy, like a heartbeat. I listen in and find it matches my own to a perfect tune. I look up at her and blink in surprise.

"You wanted an origin, so let's make you one." Flemeth states plainly. I nod and wonder if I'll even recognize myself after this.

_'The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss...'_ I take the first leap and throw off my clothes to pull the robes on with relative quickness, feeling the pure power they give me surge through my veins like adrenaline. At the same time I feel a part of myself dying and realize I lost my innocence in this universe already.

_About damn time._

I grin and clench my right hand to form a bright flame in my palm, I'm surprised to find it's burning green like it was fueled by the Fade itself.

_This was my choice, and I'm taking it._

I pull the velvet up to form a cowl over my head and look over at Flemeth expectantly. She smirks, "You are now as you are to be..." She steps forward and hands me a pendant filled with swirling black-purple liquid that seems to be alive. I pull it on over my hood and let it rest between my collarbones. She hands me is a simple wooden staff that I recognize as my own, but as I touch it I feel the ruins activate and the top of the simple wooden pole morphs into a swirling ball of reds and blues, fire and ice, the base Primals. Morrigan steps out of the hut to see that I'm in my robes and smiles darkly as she steps up to witness the event. Flemeth's voice whispers to me, "You are a shadow in the wind, a whisper in the night, an echo of this and all worlds..." He voice grows from a whisper to a boom that shakes me to my very core, "You are a Fade Warrior." I bow to her respectfully. "Welcome to the family Darien."

A wicked smile creases my lips, "A pleasure to be here... Mother."

* * *

A/N And hellooo Flemeth! :)


	6. The Law of the Wilds

A/N Time gets funny when you're being tutored by an insane abomination. :)

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

Two years... two years working my mind to mush cramming it with information about magic, theories about magic, and how to actually DO magic on a massive scale such as crumbling a fortress's walls to the ground with FIVE well trained blood mages. Under Flemeth's tutelage I've suffered, I've grown, and most important of all I've mastered some basic fade powers. She taught me how to bind my soul to that of any demon, and survive. For mere half-seconds curing combat I can, with the help of blood magic, suck the fade essence from demonic spirits and use that energy for my spells. She even taught me healing magics to cover up and heal myself at the same time using the fade energy remaining after intense battle.

_I'm still not used to feeling my dagger sink into my palm to release the fade energy into this realm. It's like a flare, anyone within a certain radius with magic or magical detection like templars could pin-point my location in mere seconds. But oh... the temptation... Just cut a bit deeper, just slice a bit more and- No! No, I'm strong, I need to keep it controlled. The blood magic alone is intoxicating, but to drink from the endless fountain of mana that was the Fade... I can see why some people lose themselves._

_'It is a simple catalyst for the control of something far greater, something even MORE powerful than the Fade...'_

_Flemeth doesn't wield fade energy, but I can still feel her magic isn't natural. She seems to be born with it, like those of the Fade._

_'I am older than mere men, yet just as feeble...'_

_Her soul feels older than any Spirit or Demon I've met in the Fade. Flemeth has even used her power to send me into the Fade to train. None of them are able to even match a fraction of her power, and that both frightens me and relieves me. No matter what power I wield, she will have more. I will require something devastating to defeat her if it comes to that, something I'm worried might happen anyways if Flemeth's talks about change is any indication._

_'A war, not just between Man, Mage, and Mer, but between their creators will reshape this world into a new form.'_

_I left my first life at the end of 2013, I saw the E3 teaser that year, 'The Fires Above', I know something is coming, and I know what a tear in the Veil looks like. Whatever is going to happen will push this world into absolute chaos... I just hope that I'll be ready for it when it comes..._

"Catch me if you can brother!" I snap out of my dark thoughts at the strangely threatening and alluring sound of Morrigan's voice as she jumps up and flashes into a Raven, her favorite animal.

_Speaking of allure..._

I smirk at her as she catches the lead. Changing into my own favorite, I flap my wings rapidly, pushing to catch up to her and fly side by side. She caws in annoyance that I copied her form.

_I'm very new at shapeshifting. I need to see the creature to take that form properly, but I'm getting better. So far I've been mostly successful recreating an all black wolf with red eyes and dark gray paws._

I look over at her as she collapses her wings for a moment to drop before spreading them to catch the wind. I admire her natural beauty as she lands perfectly on a branch and ruffles her feathers as a signal to join her. I caw in acknowledgment at turn my wings to circle around and land on the same branch as she, with admittedly less grace then she has. She raises a wing and pecks at it as she makes a small muffled squeak to show she's laughing.

_Yeah, yeah laugh it up. She and I... well, we 'bonded' like this from time to time. Mostly in animal form since she oh so enjoys me making a fool of myself._

I look over at her as the sunlight makes her black feathers glow slightly and find her doing the small nuances a raven does when simply sitting.

_She'd never admit it, but she loves doing this, being in animal form. I can see it in moments like this when Flemeth isn't grinding me with Ancient Tevinter or Nevarran or the five other languages she decided I NEED to learn before I go off into the world. I'm regretting telling her about my near-eidetic memory, because the amount of information she throws at me on a daily basis is just insane even for her!_

I just watch her out of the corner of my eye, just seeing the cold exterior melt off for a small moment while we relaxed.

_Well, while SHE relaxes, I personally find being an animal slightly daunting. Just like learning about Qunlat, or the language the Qunari speak. Seriously, I understand it's going to be useful but why do I need to learn how Qunari make love? I'm not going to be THAT close to a Qunari any time soon, and I'm damn sure I'm not going to like wearing..._

I think for a moment.

_...Uh, ok 'the traditional mating paint all females look for when choosing their mates' Its supposed to burn the skin like hell so the more you put on the stronger you seem to them. Or something like that, I might be wrong since the book was in Tevinter when Flemeth threw it at me and said, 'Read this, reread it, then memorize it and be ready to recite it after combat training this afternoon.'_

I shake my little raven head clear of the detailed Qunlat conversations I had to translate to Tevinter while dodging fireballs last night.

_Flemeth knows how to keep you focused I'll give you that much._

I peck at the strain my terrible landing did on my left wing before looking around at the view. In the distance I can see a small village, Lothering, something from a different life it seems. Back from before I learned the truth, before I realized my foolish notions of honor and pride were simply that, foolish.

I tilt my head in thought.

_Kind of like that worm I ate yesterday, mushy but delicious._

Morrigan's companionable caw breaks me from my simple raven thoughts and I look over at her to see she's resting comfortably. I shuffle slightly and turn my attention back to our targets as they move along the road, a band of templars going back to Lothering to report out activities to their masters the the sweaty Mabari bitches they are. Morrigan shifts further away and spreads her wings, signaling it was time.

_We were caught practicing our spells when these fools attacked us, now since they know what we look like we have to kill them to stay hidden, simple as that._

I nod my raven head and stretch my wings with her. She takes off and I count to three before doing the same. We flutter our wings, rapidly flying at break-neck speed through the natural obstacle course of tree branches until we finally break through and land on opposite sides of the road a few meters ahead of the templars. We just watch them as they approach, their smug sense of superiority sickening me into involuntarily gagging on the bits of a dead and decaying wolf I ate earlier to keep my strength up.

"What shall we tell the Revered Mother when she asks what happened to Ser Fredric?" I look at one of them in particular, a knight recruit as he says this.

"We tell them the truth, we were ambushed by an apostate mage and an abomination and had to leave him behind to report our findings." The lieutenant tells the recruit bluntly.

_Abomination! The nerve of these lesser creatures! To think of me as such a fool to willingly let a demon control my mind!_

I pose my wings to attack and Morrigan shakes her raven head at me, it wasn't time. I stifle the caw for kill for a bit longer to listen to the rest of their conversation. "Ser Bryant won't like that." The recruit retorts.

They finally pass between us, completely ignorant to the fact that death their deaths sat on an old fence post merely two meters from their supple succulent eyeballs. I shake my small head to get away from the impulsive animal thoughts.

_Got to stay focused._

"I don't care what Ser Bryant thinks! We are reporting this to the Revered mother and telling them that without the proper tools at our disposal we cannot battle in the-" Morrigan's wings jump to attack stance and I can see the murder in her eyes from here. This is going to be fun.

_If ravens could smile, I'd be grinning wickedly._

She takes off to flank them from ahead while I snap into my elf form and step up behind them while drawing my staff in my left hand and holding a quick burst of pure fade energy in my right, blocking their retreat. "Are you boys lost?" I smirk at the sound of Morrigan's smug, innocently sinister voice calling to our prey.

They instantly stiffen and go for their blades at recognizing the voice. Reaching out, I blast the recruit that was talking before with pure fade mist, instantly possessing him with the first demon that wants in. He screams out in agony as his body rips itself into a new and improved creature.

The first templar to turn towards the abomination and gasp in shock found razor-sharp claws protruding through his face and out the back of his head, and instant kill. I then direct the rage demon possession to duel with the lieutenant and use the last pulse of fade energy to heal my palm

Horror and terror rips through the minds of the last two recruits at the front as Morrigan casts Waking Nightmare.

_Very useful for thinning the herd._

They nearly get to the point of insanity before the lieutenant notices as he blocks another claw attack from my abomination and casts cleansing aura to breaks them from their hold. The three of them rush the abomination and kill it with moderate difficulty. "Unfortunate, I rather liked that one, he had spirit." I calmly state while dipping into my personal mana pool.

They all look at me with piercing gazes as I smirk at their fallen companion's demise. "The Mak-!" I snap spin and slide my staff across the ground at my feet, causing a burst of solid shards of ice to stab into their armor and freeze them all solid.

I slowly step forward and tsk as their eyes follow me. "How pathetic, don't you agree sister?"

Morrigan steps up behind the frozen lieutenant, "No doubt they failed their training to fall so easily to two simple apostates such as we."

I rub my chin, "Indeed, they are simply men with swords and armor, no real power to them." I discreetly prick my fingers as I speak and use the small drops of blood to build up more fade energy.

"They are misguided fools and need to be taught a lesson." Morrigan says playfully. I nod and press my hand against the foreheads of the two recruits, using the fade energy to mold their minds to my will and make them forget their purpose in life, their drives, everything good about them. I step back and drop a small fireball at their feet, thawing them instantly. The two templars, without purpose, quickly draw their blades and stab themselves through their heart. "Weak willed fools..." Morrigan says in a sing-song voice as they both bleed to death at the lieutenant's feet. I look down sigh internally at the waste.

_They need to die, but I'll only enjoy a small bit of it._

I step up to him and brush some frost off his shoulder, "What do you think we should do to this one sister?" I ask casually while stepping over the two dead templars and starting to lap around the last templar-cicle.

Morrigan hums in thought as she taps a slender finger against her dark lips. "What might the Maker wish us to do with his failed creation?" She asks as I pass by on my second lap. "Burned alive like his blushing bride?" Fear glints in the slowly thawing templar-cicle's eyes.

"No, he is not a woman of a pure heart and pure soul dear sister." I comment softly.

_This is becoming cruel._

A tear rolls down the sheet of ice frozen to the templar's cheek, "How about hunger? Let's see how one of the Maker's will can last through a bout of starvation." Morrigan states wickedly.

I pause in contemplation and take a peek at the terror and horrific fear in the templar's eyes. "No, tis not grand enough a punishment for someone of his status." I continue my lap unhindered, subduing the pure disgust I have in my gut from what we are doing to the poor man. Flemeth didn't raise weak-willed children.

"Choose for me will you? I tire of these ridiculous games." She feints a yawn and steps back to watch as I finish my fifth and final lap to stand right in front of the last templar and try to contemplate the perfect punishment for threatening our livelihood.

_Spike up the arse? No. Drowning? No. Branded? No._

I frown in deep thought before smiling as it comes to me, "Eyes eaten out of his skull and then defecated onto the head of the Revered Mother herself." Morrigan laughs wickedly behind me as the templar passes out and hits the ground, his head now properly thawed enough to carry out our plan. I turn to Morrigan, a bit of disgust causing some hesitation. "Shall we feast?"

She smiles slightly before sighing, "Very well, wouldn't want to upset the Maker now would we?" H laugh echoes through me as she turns into her raven form and hops over to the unconscious, and quickly thawing, templar.

_I'm going to have to block this part out later tonight..._

I cast the appropriate spell and flash into my own raven before hopping over and seeing Morrigan using her beak to pull back the eyelid. She nods to me and thrusts her beak down and into the supple white flesh.

The templar's screams of agony echoed for miles as we devoured his eyes, leaving the sockets intact so he might survive if found. If he does then he will live the rest of his life knowing the last contribution he made to the Chantry was in the form of two white and black projectiles atop the Revered mother's head.

* * *

_Cruel, but effective... I find myself thinking that more and more these days. Flemeth seems to live by that code, and Morrigan seems content to follow it as her own. It's maddening trying to keep my morality in tact while killing and torturing templars and Chasind to death before devouring their corpses to hide them properly._

I shiver from the fresh taste of eyeball on my tongue.

_It tastes like an unseasoned, undercooked, egg white with some chewy bits like the iris and lens._

I shiver again before looking down from my spot over a dying rose bush in the corner of the Chantry garden. I can see Leliana relaxing as she wanders the lovely fragrant flowers who's scents are not entirely lost on my animal nostrils. I take in a deep breath of the fragrance and quietly coo at the calming scent that takes a small bit of the taste of eye off my thin raven tongue. I look up at where Morrigan is perched high above the courtyard. She thought the Revered Mother might take a morning stroll today, I disagreed and chose the gardens as my preferred ambush site.

The back door of the Chantry opens up to reveal the Revered Mother as she walks out and into the garden.

_Yep, just like I expected._

I ruffle my feathers and caw at Morrigan in victory. Leliana and the Revered Mother look up at me in surprise before greeting each other. "Greetings sister Leliana."

"Greetings your reverence, I was enjoying the wonderful smells of the garden and did not see you approach." She bows.

"Sister Leliana it is not improper to lose yourself in the wonders of this world, as long as you do not shirk from your duties.

Leliana immediately shakes her head, "Oh no I have been tending to the garden and other duties as the Maker demands." I scoff internally.

'as the Maker demands.' It's like she's indoctr- Oh my god she's been indoctrinated. That's sad, that people are unable to find their own paths and just fall into a role that doesn't suit them. Leliana I promise you that I will get you free from the bonds of Chantry law soon, but today I have a secret 'gift' for the Revered Mother and I'm intent on giving it to her.

The Mother steps over to the rose bush and I turn while she bends down to inspect the dying plant. I lift my tail.

…

"Holy sodding Maker!" Needless to say I hit my target. She curses as she jumps back, a bit of bird fecal mater running down her face. I caw out in success while Morrigan nearly falls off the roof in hilarity. I look over to see Leliana staring at the Revered Mother in shock that she cursed the Maker.

_I think my job here is do-_

Another white spot splats onto the Revered Mother's head. "AH!" Morrigan lands on the rock wall to my left and I poof up my feathers and caw out to mock the hilarious scene. "Shoot them down Sister! Shoot the heretic birds!"

_Oh crap._

Morrigan manages to hop off the wall in time as an arrow embeds in-between two rocks. I flutter and jump off, feeling another arrow skimming my right flying feathers as I knock my head on the wall and fall onto the other side. Morrigan caws the universal 'bad shiny!' and I hop along into a bush to hide while two templars round the corner to stare at Morrigan flying off into the Wilds.

_Sod it._

I roll over and peck at my injured right wing, not stopping the croaks of pain I make. A sword stabs over my head and I jump back. 'Bad shiny, bad shiny!' I caw franticly.

"Hold still you wrecked bird!" The templar swings again and I flutter away into a tree, dodging two crossbow bolts as I go.

_You know what?! Fuck them all! Every damn templar can just die already! Except Alistair, he's cool._

I struggle to hop up to the top of the tree, three more bolts barely missing my large body. 'Bad shiny!' I caw franticly. A bolt scrapes by my skull, knocking me off a branch to fall out of the tree and hit the ground.

_Oh... what the hell..._

I roll over by spreading my wings to hear heavy plate boots clanking against the ground. I hop over behind a tree and pant franticly, my little heart near to bursting.

_This is seriously not good._

"CAW!" I look up and nearly croak out my shock and relief.

Morrigan bolts through the sky, diving around the templars and clawing at their helmets in an expert distraction motion. I flutter my wings and get up to the tree-tops quickly, croaking at her that I was clear. She soars out of the tree-tops after me, two bolts missing her by mere inches as we call out our laughter and sped back to the Wilds...

* * *

We see Flemeth's hut in the distance and coo in relief, we didn't stop once since we passed the templar we ate out being carried back to Lothering murmuring, "The crows! The crows are coming! They will devour us all!"

We're RAVENS which are much cooler than crows by the way, and almost twice as big. Not as maneuverable or stealthy as a crow, but our larger sharpened claws are really handy in a fight. Plus the longer wingspan allows us more speed and power to our movements.

Morrigan speeds up before changing as she lands and falling to her knees in exhaustion. I miss the hut completely and splash into the pond nearby as I turn back.

_Oh damn it!_

I quickly push myself up out of the mud and rub my head at the strange feeling of being elven again.

_Man we are limited in eyesight! I could see all around me as a bird and now I have barely 180 degrees covered!_

I throw the mud off of my robes and slosh over to dry land as Morrigan stands up to laugh at me. "Tis difficult to land I suppose." She laughs as I scowl at her.

"I guess you've never crashed into the pond when trying to land?" I ready my fade magic to throw the mud off.

"No, tis a simple skill most learn after their first try. Simple instincts."

I throw a pulse of fade magic outwards, throwing the mud to the ground around me. "Yeah yeah, lets go see what Mother has cooked in our absence. I'm guessing another stew of muck worms and crickets."

Morrigan's face scrunches up, "Oh, and I twas hoping to avoid throwing up before nightfall."

I shrug and we step into the hut, shaking in our boots from the anxiety of what horror mother's marsh cuisine might have born for us tonight.

* * *

I heave at the feeling of live crickets slowly being eaten alive by the stomach acid and roll onto my side to see Morrigan wasn't faring much better as she is squirming on her side of the bed.

_I'm SO thankful neither of us have to sleep in the same bed as Mother, tis unbearable to hear her whispers of chaos and demons in my ear as she curls around me in the night. Neither of us like sleeping in the same bed, but that is just maddening. Psychologically traumatizing even._

"Can't sleep?" I whisper in Morrigan's ear.

She turns over, her face crunched up into a deep scowl, "I still feel them moving about inside." She states horrifically.

I shiver at the thought. "Twas very disgusting, that feeling. Tis why I chewed before I swallowed."

She winces at the thought. "From now on we will cook our own meals. Never again must I suffer Mother's wood-rot stew." I simply nod in agreement before turning over and wrapping my cloak closer to ward off the freezing marsh nights.

"Tis quite cold in the hut tonight." Morrigan whispers in my ear. I turn my head to find her face barely an inch from my own. Her eyes glowing unnaturally in the darkness. "Would you mind if we... conserved heat?" I blink.

_I don't see why not. It IS quite chilly tonight, maybe in the lower tens in Celsius?_

"No, not at all sister." I whisper back. She frowns before wrapping herself around my back and pulling herself closer. I can feel even through the thick velvet clothes draped down my back that she's practically freezing so I turn over and wrap my arms around her chastely, sharing my abundance of heat even though I'm shorter and skinnier by comparison.

"You are quite warm Brother, tis surprising, and not unwelcoming." She mutters as she holds me tighter before falling asleep, the smallest smile curling her lips upwards as she goes to the Fade. I close my eyes and will myself into the Fade like Flemeth has been teaching me.

* * *

Opening my eyes I see myself wrapped around Morrigan and vice-versa. "Huh, we look pretty peaceful." I step past the vision and pick out a few books on advanced Ice magic before sitting down and starting my review of a certain Frost spell that chills the entire area of effect, slowing down or freezing your opponents wen they try to move. As well as increasing the physical damage done to a target through making them brittle. "I think I've done that once or twice. More often than not I jst encase them in ice to immobilize them for a massive fire blast." I shake my head and sigh.

_I waste so much mana doing that, if I can just practice my ice spells more often I could properly do extensive open-area combat without my daggers and sword, and claws..._

I set the book down and think about how many people I've killed in animal form.

_None, I don't kill, most of my animals are scavengers or aren't advanced in my mind enough to properly hunt. I really need to advance my Alpha Wolf shape._

Looking back to my book I blink as I feel something strange. I look over at the vision and gawk in shock that Morrigan is snuggling up closer to me. "Ok... don't think too much into it, beside the fact that she's technically my step sister." I turn my chair to face away from it and bury my nose in my book for the rest of the night.

* * *

Waking up I smile at the smell of wildflowers and smoke.

_Wait..._

I crack my eyes open and find my face buried in Morrigan's hair. I pull back on instinct and find myself trapped in her grip.

_Oh sod... this is not good._

She shifts and wakes up to start at me in surprise.

…

"Uh... tis a good morning I think." I say quietly.

She quickly moves away and frowns, "Tis a good morning to fondle your sister?" She asks in disgust.

I shake my head and smirk at her, "You were cold were you not? It wasn't me who snuggled close when the air twas chilly." She blushes, actually blushes, and I laugh at it.

_It's so interesting seeing her like this, like a human being._

"Tis nothing more than a base instinct." She tries to defend herself. "Do not think I will indulge your sick fantasies in the night. I'd rather eat an entire pot of Mother's wood-rot stew then sleep with such a... such a..."

I smile, "Such a handsome, intelligent, and witty elf?" I retort confidently.

She tsk's and pulls her robes tight to ward off the chilly morning air and ignores me to restart the fire that burned out late in the night.

_Did I seriously just try to pull a Zevran on her?_

I watch her for a few more moments as she piles up some logs in the fireplace. She catches me staring and scowls, "Avert your eyes! I am not some petty bauble for you to admire! I am your sister as well as uninterested. Tis a waste of time." I raise an eyebrow and she scoffs angrily.

I shrug and adjust my own robes before walking over and snapping my fingers, setting the logs aflame using a trick I developed to make her jump back in surprise. I laugh at the furious scowl she gives me and step up to the bookcase to take the two books written about Ancient Tevinter Primal Mages outside to read in the morning sun. I find my spot by the pond where I like to sit and meditate and sit down with the first book.

_The swamp is just so peaceful, I half-expected it to be hostile like the Brecilian forest but it's not, it's just ever-changing._

I flip a page careful and mentally translate the words as I read them out loud, feeling the ancient power each word had in the Tevinter language.

* * *

An hour later I'm half-way done with a section on Frost Storms in the Anders when Morrigan steps out of the hut and calls to me, "Breakfast tis ready, though I doubt you would wish to consume Mother's left over wood-rot." I place a bookmark on my page and close the book to look over at her. "Perhaps you would be willing to hunt with me this morning?" I smile at her and nod as I stick the books in my robes for safe keeping before focusing on the ground in deep thought.

_Black coat with a gray undertone, red eyes piercing like the fires of a thousand suns, claws sharp and powerful, body strong yet light._

I cast the spell and keep my mental image of my wolf until I fall onto the ground, staggered by the using of four legs instead of two. Morrigan laughs at my form, "Tis a start, and quite intimidating indeed. Now for the hunt." She jumps into her own form, a simple gray wolf, and charges off into the wilds. I follow her path, using my extremely sensitive hearing and sense of smell to follow her trail into a clearing. I stalk the exterior as I spot her among the tall grasses. I use the shadows to my advantage and sniff a rabbit's tracks near a bush. A mental trail leads me into the clearing and I slowly catch up with Morrigan as she watches a rabbit eating some of the greenery that was lucky enough to survive last nights frost. I pick up a twitch of Morrigan's ear as a signal to be ready. I crouch low to the ground, lowering my head to glare at the prey in front of us. Morrigan sniffs twice and I catch a whiff of the scent too.

_Spice, sweat, and perhaps metal?_

An arrow pierces the rabbit's thin neck, killing it instantly. The Chasind hunter steps out from his hiding spot and we watch as he skins the rabbit on the spot, adding the meat to his pack and stringing the pelt to his hide armor for more protection from the elements. He leaves quickly and I snort my annoyance. Morrigan growls darkly in agreement and I nudge her to show we could find other prey. She agrees reluctantly turns from the grass and we run off into the forest to look for other prey.

* * *

We stalk the tracks of a dear carefully, one slip up and it would be a total failure. We sneak through the bushes and into another clearing, one with a pond and stream. I spot a pack of wolves drinking from it and twitch my ear towards them to alert Morrigan. She stiffens instantly and I'm wondering why.

_They're just wolves, we are also wolves, it doesn't really matter unless we cross their prey._

Morrigan turns to walk away and I nudge in question. She turns and sniffs the air. I do the same and I can smell the wolves, one in particular.

_Oh... it's their territory! Oh, well, I'd have screwed that up pretty quickly._

I nod slightly in understanding and we run through the woods once again, looking for something, anything to eat.

_I'm starting to starve here, and all this running is not helping._

We smell the dear again, this time stronger and I rush forwards, not caring about making myself quiet anymore. I burst into an open area and quickly spot the Chasind from before skinning the dead dear. I stop as he spots me and I growl in warning. Morrigan flanks him and does the same as he notches an arrow and warns us to back off.

'I'm starving, I am NOT backing off!' The sentence comes out as a sharp bark of anger that definitely puts fear into the Chasind's mind as he falters just enough for Morrigan to tackle him to the ground. He struggles to keep Morrigan's bite away from his face with one hand while reaching for his knife with the other. I rush up quickly and bite the arm that was reaching for the hunting knife at his side. He screams for a second longer before Morrigan's sharp teeth clamp around his throat, silencing his scream before she jerks her head to the right and snaps his neck. She licks the blood off her lips and hops off the dead Chasind to go over to the more favorable fresh dear and feast. I frown and suppress a whimper as I see the Chasind stop moving and the light finally drain from his eyes.

_Such a waste._

I look back at Morrigan as she tears chunks of the dear off and swallows it without a second thought.

_It's always life or death in the Wilds, now I see why it's so dangerous to men._

I rush over as the smell of the dear's fresh blood overpowers my senses. I bite down and feast on the thick hide of it, happy to finally have something relatively descent in my belly for once. Morrigan nudges me slightly in a small gesture of thanks for saving her life before ripping out an organ that looks like it's liver and chomping on it. I give one back and push my front paws against the corpse to tear off a chunk of the fresh kill and chew on it thankfully, simply bask in the thrill of my first hunt as an animal of the Wilds.

* * *

A/N The updates will stay on every two to three days I think. It depends on how college goes. Scorpio's Legacy ch. 21 is still being written, I'm stuck on trying to word the environments correctly. I promise it'll be done before September. :)


	7. Welcome to Our Family of Apostates

A/N College. I'm not saying anything else, but college is the reason I couldn't update on Wednesday. I'll be uploading a new chapter now, as well as later on Sunday, and then again on Monday to catch up with my schedule, so...

Read, Review, and Enjoy! :)

Scorpio's Legacy Chapter 21 just needs a bit of polishing so expect that by midnight Sunday (Central US Time). Finally I get that stubborn bastard off my plate! XD Unfortunately it won't be properly Beta-tested by the lovely individual I found as I feel like I just want it done and gone before I end up tearing my hair out... again. ;)

FYI I usually like to update everyone on what I'm doing in whatever A/N for whatever story I'm writing so don't get confused or agitated if you see this and think, 'oh this guy is just advertising his stuff so its not important' because it IS important to ME and a lot of my other readers-

-and before I start rambling again I have one question to answer from a PM I got a week ago (last time I got on to check my messages) and after reading it I'd like to bring it to everyone's attention:  
I am aiming at the release date of Dragon Age: Inquisition to finish the DA: O and DA: II parts of my SI. That way everyone who is getting the game can have a lot of free time (myself included) to purchase and play their copies into oblivion and back before I write the last installment of my SI, which will most likely take until summer of 2015 to finish since I have college and stuff.

And I rambled anyways... :) Here's chapter seven for you all...

* * *

I deflect another array of fireballs Flemeth has thrown at me and turn their magic inwards to strengthen my barrier like she taught me. "Good, unlike the mages from the circle you are quite proficient in the use of combative spells." I smile at the strangely rare praise and focus my fade magic outwards in an attempt to sunder the Veil temporarily using the knowledge my library in the Fade taught me over these last two months.

_I'm not sure if it was Morrigan and I hunting, or just me getting lucky, but a new section of the library opened up in my dreams. The section on Fade Magic._

I cut my palm while whispering the incantation I learned in my dreams and suddenly the entire area around me explodes in a blast of fade energy. I'm thrown back to Flemeth's side of the clearing just outside the hut and look up to see a Tear in the Veil staring back at me. "Oh that's not good..." It pulses and a Rage demon jumps out, roaring in, well, rage.

"You just had to push your boundaries didn't you?" Flemeth mocks while grabbing her staff and taking up a defensive position as I flash-freeze the demon solid.

Eight more flood out and Morrigan walks out of the hut, "Tis quite difficult to brew potions with all this-" She ducks under a cone of fire and I blast a flash of Winter's Grasp at the lesser Rage demon to halt it's advance.

"The Hut is on fire." Flemeth notes calmly while casting Tempest and Firestorm at the same time to electrocute and incinerate eight Shades that decided to follow the demons out.

I turn and flash a water spell onto it to put out the raging fire. "AH!" And soak Morrigan at the same time. She glares at me and flashes a curse and a few nightmares across the battlefield while her robes cling to her body, possibly chaffing her fair unblemished skin.

_She's going to kill me for that, she spends ages on her hair alone._

I throw down my new spell, Frost Storm and slow the entire field of shades and demons to a crawl, some freeze solid like Morrigan.

_Ok, NOW she's going to kill me._

"It would be best if you closed the Tear." Flemeth bites out.

I cringe and use the moment of opportunity to rush forwards and towards the Tear.

_If we don't close it we aren't going to win this fight and that means Flemeth kicking my ass from the afterlife while I fail to escape that horrendous fate. _

I feel the tendrils of sweet fade energy calling to me as I approach the Tear. The sinister draw to cut the Veil and let this eternal magic through is almost overpowering. A Desire Demon jumps through and I cut her down with a dagger to the chest.

_They're becoming too powerful, it needs to close now!_

I close my eyes, grasping at the Fade itself and reaching out to touch the strings that were damaged. I mentally visualize repairing the strings and let my magic do the work for me like the books in the Fade tell me.

_Good thing Flemeth made me memorize an old Tevinter book on Dreamers. Their magics are not that different than this, and I can cross reference my dream books with it just in case the Fade is wrong or right in some areas._

The screams of fury and anger that the demons call to me nearly breaks my concentration. I whisper the Ancient Tevinter words for 'mend' and 'strengthen' over and over again while repairing each individual strand.

_'You are the mortal trying to stop the Tear? You are weak-minded if you believe one mortal could do what the other's cannot.'_

The voice is dark, angry, and only infuriates me into fighting against the demon horde even harder. I take the last string and feel my power draining. I cut my palm and pull out wisps of fade energy to mend the Veil as I continue my work unhindered. I finish the mend as the last demon falls by Flemeth's and Morrigan's spells. I fall to my knees, my mana drained from the excruciating experience. Then it hits me.

_I just tore... and mended the Veil... myself._

_..._

_I don't know whether to be ecstatic or terrified... no mortal has done that and lived without heavy sacrifice or a mountain of Lyrium. What am I? _

Flemeth's sharp bark of laughter brings me back to reality. I manage to stand back up as she speaks, "You are more like me than I have anticipated. So full of power and potential." I watch her face darken, "You are a threat to this world as much you are its savior. You are no-longer welcome here Darien, your power will draw attention to us." I catch her voice's meaning and lower my head in deep thought. "You are not one of us, not yet, but in time you will see to your own path." I look back up and scowl at her sharply.

_What is this? Am I now homeless? All because a few demons recognized what I could do?_

Morrigan watches us with shock written across her face. I step forward and smile at Flemeth before handing her my amulet, the protective wards built into the pendant now releasing the shadow that's hidden me from many demons for so long. "Goodbye Mother. I do hope to see you again soon." I say bluntly, still a bit shocked that I have to leave.

She hands me my pack, the original one I haven't seen in over two years. I look inside and smile sadly at the dead ingredients among broken glassware that was my alchemy set.

_From a different time, a different place... Once again I've ran from my past and successfully survived the repercussions. Just perfect._

I throw it over my back and turn to walk away. "Stop! Tis madness! Mother he is a strong mage! He has surpassed even I in your teachings and you wish for him to be sent off into the world alone before he finishes your lessons?" Morrigan argues adamantly.

Flemeth nearly growls at her, "Quiet girl! You will not interfere with his fate. He is not one of us and requires this to build his destiny."

Morrigan grumbles silently, but agrees. She looks at me sadly before stepping up and hugging me unexpectantly. I freeze at the shocking display of emotion and return it only briefly, knowing how much she hates prolonged physical contact. "I'll be fine Sister. Twas fun while it lasted yes?" I joke to her.

She scoffs, pulls away, and frowns, "Yes, twas just lovely. All our ventures into civilization and such. You will be lucky if the templars don't cut you down the first chance they get. Tis not uncommon for apostates to be be-headed when discovered by the Chantry." I catch her small smile and nod to her while snorting a laugh. She smirks back with menacing eyes meant to intimidate. I simply smile knowingly.

"I will see you soon Sister." I turn and jump into my Raven form to fly off north, not looking back and not wondering where I was going.

_The time is almost up for the Blight and I need to find the Hawkes quickly, I am NOT letting any of them die before reaching Kirkwall! Tis simply cruel!_

As I flap my wings and soar across the sky towards Lothering once again, I remember that I had eight of Flemeth's rare and ancient books in my robes and squawk a chuckle at my successful theft of priceless magical tomes.

* * *

When I finally get to the village/town I flutter down and land on a rooftop and survey the area.

_Lothering, the place of my beginning and possible end if Flemeth's insane ramblings have any merit. Huh, looks just like it did all those months ago. I wonder if the Revered Mother dropped that 'kill all birds on sight' order she gave her templars after the 'incident' yet. I'd better stay clear of them for now just to be safe._

The sun is starting to set and I watch as dozens of patrons flock to the tavern for a night of heavy drinking.

_I wonder if they still use that recipe I gave them. Probably not since the berry-ale was seasonal, not year-round. _

"I don't care brother, I'm a man now and I'm having a damn drink!" I turn my head and spot two men and a woman walking across the small bridge in the middle of town and towards the tavern. I look closely at them and spot the well-kept beard of the male Hawke default as it shifts downwards in a slight frown, "Mother won't like this Carver, but alright. One ale and then we're out of there."

_Oh man its strange seeing them in person. It's like I've been playing Dragon Age on 240p my whole life and I just bought an HDMI cable and blew the graphics out the window._

"Just make it quick, I don't like being in the open. It feels like somebody's watching us." Bethany looks around nervously while eying the one templar walking past them to get back to the Chantry with fear and trepidation as they continue onwards.

_Wow, I knew Bethany was cautious but to outright fear templars so blatantly... She must grow up right-quick with the Blight or I'm missing something._

I flutter and drift down to land behind a crate near the entrance and change back to an elf. "This is going to be just great, two apostates and a hard-headed bastard walk into a bar-" Hawke's joke is cut off as they enter the tavern. I internally smile.

_Oh ho ho! We got a sarcastic Hawke! This is going to me great indeed._

I stand and pull up my hood while dropping my black velvet into a cloak to hide my strange robes and weapons. I push inside to be assaulted by the stench of stale ale, piss, and sweat.

_Yeah, just like old times._

I gag and almost up-chuck a rabbit I ate on the way here as a wolf before going inside. The calming and up-beat tune the now two bards are playing in the elevated area of the place makes me smile in remembrance of simpler times. I spot a surprising elven woman with pulled back red hair and a bright smile serving drinks around the full tavern and sit down in the dark corner near the door to watch the three Hawkes at the bar as they order some cheep ale.

_Huh, I think I know a hawk form. Maybe not as well as my other ones but I could do it if I had the ti-_

"Welcome good sir, can I interest you in our specialty?" I blink at the server from behind my cowl and smile at her strangely pleasant voice before nodding. "Alright, there's honey-ale, berry-ale and regular ale. What'll you have?

"A berry-ale and some local news." I say quietly while passing one of the hundred and ten sovereigns I found still in my pack into her palm.

_I almost forgot about Erianne and Owen after all this time. I barely care about it anymore. If my memory wasn't so great I'd have already be oblivious to what Erianne might have done after all this time. The wilds will do that to you._

She gasps at the gold and grins happily as she takes it, "Oh yes! Yes sir I will be right back with your order!" She dashes away into the kitchen and before I even have time to sit back and fold my hands in my lap she's running back and dropping a full mug in front of me.

"Thank you sweetie. Tis always interesting meeting another of my kind amongst the Humans." She looks at me strangely and I lower my hood for a moment to show off my ears before pulling it up over my shaved head.

_I've found it's easier to move around without hair, and I have to watch that ascent I picked up. 'tis' is not used regularly in common Ferelden._

She smiles and sits down across from me, careful not to catch her expensive-looking dress on the table or chair. "Oh, you're Dalish? I never met a Dalish before. What are they like?" Her sharp blue eyes twinkle in the low light with curiosity I haven't seen in ages. I take a sip of my drink and smile at the familiar taste.

_They kept the recipe._

"My clan were surprisingly diplomatic with the Humans that we came across. We weren't that prideful either, we had a great life and a good amount of lore still intact from the Dales so we kept ourselves occupied with daily activities and such." I take a swig of the ale to clear my parched throat from the easy lie.

_Well, partial lie. I've been getting flashes here and there about a clan. What clan however still is yet to be known, but I did, or rather this body, used to live with a Dalish clan near the Kocari Wilds so I just assume the rest of my clan died so save breath. _

She smiles and leans forward, showing off her ample bosom on purpose. I keep my eyes above her neck. "Oh? I'll have to meet them sometime. They sound interesting."

_And as usual I've taken interest from a woman who knows how to seduce a person without them noticing. The simple 'I'm sexy and you're interesting' bit simply doesn't work on me. Twas a favorite of my sister's when walking through the village after all and she did nothing so openly risqué as show off her bits without proper motivation._

...

_Ok that was creepy..._

I nod to her and only let a small smirk catch my lips, "Yes, that would be quite interesting indeed. Now please secure your bosom properly, you are being quite obvious and I'm not interested at the moment."

She purses her lips and sits back while pulling her breasts back into her dress properly, "Alright, alright, the local news then?" I simply nod. She looks off into the distance and taps a slender finger against her bottom lip, "The king's army is rumored to be on the march towards the ruins of Ostagar and many people are wishing to join up around Lothering when they pass through."

_Huh, so they're still a bit behind schedule. Normally they've already been there for two months, or maybe I'm just confusing it with something else._

She sighs while leaning back casually, "I personally think the whole thing is going to end up in a disaster."

I raise an eyebrow she can't see, "Oh? Do you wish to elaborate?"

She smirks and leans across the table to whisper, "It's rumored the King is the problem with the lack of an heir, not the queen, and wants to go down in the flame of glory before it comes out."

I stare at her for a moment in shock as she sits back.

_There are rumors? Then Cailen is with the army, and already convinced that this would be the end? Or is this speculation? Cailen wasn't the brightest ember in the flames and if I remember, Anora was the one who ran the country while he was only a figure-head of a sort. Yeah this news isn't too much to worry about. Mostly speculation._

I nod, "Alright, thanks for the news sweet thing." I pass another gold to her and tilt my head up so she sees my wink.

Her eyes brighten and she nearly jumps over the table as she quickly kisses my cheek, causing me to blush slightly. "I have a room if you want to do something later." She whispers before stepping away to return my half-empty mug to the kitchen. I shake my head and sit back in satisfaction.

_I've still got it, or it was the gold since I'm pretty pale and, well, Dalish. Or maybe she just sees that as attractive?_

I shake my head clear and focus on the Hawkes again. Bethany looks drunk already and she's not even halfway done with her first mug. Hawke himself is holding her upright while pounding back his third mug and laughing at Carver as he spits out his ale at something Hawke said.

_What a lively bunch. I wonder who's going with the King's army? Carver I know goes no-matter what, Bethany never goes because she's cautious and fears magic, and I think Hawke is a mage as well by his joke earlier. _

I watch them for a bit longer, using my elven ears and training as a wolf to pin-point specific sounds and listen in on their conversation from across the room.

"The stars are twirling a-and I need to get another ale." Carver mumbles from his hunched position at the bar.

"Oh you- you- ow." Bethany pushes her ale back and holds onto Hawke's left arm for dear life as the room is probably spinning for her right now. "I-I need t-to- Maker can the room stop spinning?" I snicker as Carver loses his grip on the counter and falls backwards off his seat.

Hawke bursts out laughing, "Having a nap down there brother?"

Carver groans and fails to get back to his feet. "Oh, Maker. Why do people enjoy drinking?"

I stand up and decide to help out the group a bit. "Tis quite interesting," I say while looking down at drunk 18 year-old carver on the floor as I step over. "that two apostates and a bastard enter a bar and none of them know about the shadow at their backs as they besot themselves." Hawke turns abruptly to stare at me in shock and Bethany instantly sobers up to fidget nervously. Carver is still moaning at my feet. I reach down and grab him by the shoulders to pick him up, "There you go son, come on, time to sober up." I grab a flask of water from my pack and pour it over his head.

"Ah! Hey! What'd you do that for?!" Carver shouts as I set him up on his feet.

Hawke looks at his siblings before staring back at me, "What do you want?" He whispers angrily.

"A moment of your time." I turn around, not waiting for them to follow me as I step out of the tavern and up to the edge of the stream that runs through the center of Lothering. I crinkle my nose at the foul stench rising from the depths of the murky river.

_That looks disgusting. I'm guessing they dumb their sewage into the stream? Oh that is nasty._

"Aright, we're listening. Who are you and how do you know what we are?" Hawke demands as his group steps up behind me. I turn and look over to see Bethany looking like she's about to pass out from the shock and Carver seems content to fondle the hilt of his bastard sword, a permanent scowl tainting his good looks.

_I'm not into that type of thing, but I can tell he'll definitely be handsome when he stops hating the world._

I shift my stance to a casual one, "I am a whisper in the shadows, a raven in the sky, a plucker of strings and webs. Beyond that you do not need to know. Tis a mystery." They all stare at me like I'm insane, "And I heard you joking to your friends here about it when you entered the tavern. There's a table right next to the door by the way. You might want to check that next time."

Carver and Bethany frown at Hawke who cringes, "Ah, I see. Well, are you going to extort us or just tell the templars and run us out of town?" He asks worriedly, half-joking.

_That would not end well at all. Period._

I shake my head and drop my hood to my shoulders. All their eyebrows shoot up in shock from what I assume is my ears. "I will not tell anyone since I am of the same accord." I open up a bit of my cloak and cast a burst of flames for them all to see before closing it.

Bethany and Hawke gasp and as expected, Carver growls. " Y-you're an apostate?" Bethany asks in shock and surprise.

I smile and nod at her, "Those of the blood must stand together in the mist yes?" She blinks in confusion.

_Damn my insane mannerisms! Flemeth doesn't question origins, but instills them quite forcefully._

I shake my head, "Tis simply maddening." I mutter quietly before looking back to her, "We are kin by power, as such we must help each other or fall to the templars all the same." She worriedly agrees with a simple nod.

Hawke grins, "Well, now that that's taken care of, what shall we do with the witty elf?"

I scoff, "I'd suggest allowing him a place of rest before he flies away." They stare at me again. "It doesn't matter, yet. Now I simply require a place to hide from the templars and continue my research and study uninterrupted. I have the gold if you require compensation." Hawke scratches his beard in deep thought.

_Come on, come on... take the bait..._

"Alright, though I'll need to speak with mother to see if it's fine. I'm sure she will be fine with it."

_YES! Phase one of saving the Hawkes complete!_

I grin, "Thank you, now, my name is Darien." I hold out my hand and Hawke takes it and nearly crushes my metacarpals with his grip. I bite back a wince, "Yeah, strong grip."

He laughs, "You are one strange little elf you know that?" I simply nod to avoid squeaking from my crushed hand. "My name is Garrett, though for some strange reason everyone likes calling me Hawke. I'm not a bird!" I stifle a laugh.

Bethany steps forward next, "My name is Bethany, I'm Ha- Garrett's sister."

I take her hand and kiss the back of it politely, "A pleasure to meet you Bethany." She rips it away and stares at me in shock. "Oh, come now. Tis only polite to be gentle with a beautiful woman whose brother's are close enough to rip me apart limb from limb."

Hawke bursts out laughing, "Oh he's a funny elf! It's so rare to find a decent jester in this day and age." He jokes, kind of, his eyes spell murder, but his lips whisper sarcasm.

"They die quite young." Carver adds bluntly. I resist the urge to stick my tongue out at him.

"So serious this one... Tis not surprising that one such as yourself has survived as long as you have." I compliment. Carver huffs and crosses his arms while glaring at me.

_Damn, he's like the embodiment of a tit. Aveline hit it on the head smashed that nail into dust._

"Now lets not waste anymore time." I look up at the darkening sky. "Tis late and not safe along the main paths in the dark. Wolves and bears tend to wander aimlessly looking for little elves to snack upon." I say worriedly.

Haw- Garrett bursts into laughter before slapping me on the back as we start over the bridge. "Oh I think I'll enjoy pestering this little guy." I frown at him as I walk further ahead, one hand on my staff and the other on my dagger.

_I wasn't kidding, Morrigan once said that wild beasts simply seem to wander to me like I'm their favorite treat. She joked that it was why the Dalish never went this far south, or at least I HOPE she was joking._

* * *

I was right to be cautious. "Don't hold back!" I flash into a raven and fly out of reach just as the black bear smashes the rock I was cornered up against. "Bethany fireball! Carver hold the right flank! Darien- Where's Darien?!" I flash out of my raven form and skid to a stop right beside Hawk- Garrett.

_Damn it that is going to be hard to get right._

"Darien? You- sod it! Cover the left flank! They're coming!" I nod to him as he readies a spell and Bethany throws a fireball at the two wolves behind us.

I drop my cloak to the ground around me and flash a wall of ice three feet high around our left flank where the black bear from before tried to eat me. It roars and claws at the ice wall angrily. I build a second layer up and it holds, "Left cover-!" Another explosion of fire from Bethany tears the two whimpering wounded wolves behind us apart. I turn to nod to her and see Hawke glowing green.

_What the hell?_

Carver glows slightly as well a few feet away as well and stops his screams of pain.

_Hawke's a healer?!_

I stare at him for a moment before focusing and tossing a triplicate of frost wisps over my wall of ice and into the black bear. It growls as it's massive muscles start to frost over. "Tis a beautiful night!" I shout as the wall turns into water at my touch and I flash a fire blast into the bear, incinerating it's thick fur out-right.

"What?" Bethany shouts from behind me.

I snap my staff around and send a wave of ice shards into the bear, pinning it into the ridge behind it and allowing me to snap a fireball into it's head, cracking the skull with massive elemental force while searing the flesh off it's face. A quick death for a noble beast. "You know, romantic and all that sappiness. Too bad the wildlife disagrees!" I cover her as her mind refocuses on her one spell, I don't need to turn around to know she's blushing.

"Less flirting more killing!" Garrett shouts as two wolves rush him.

I flash into my wolf-form and use my superior size to tackle both gray wolves to the side and into Carver's range. I jump over his swing and run around him as he beheads the two wolves with his bastard sword. I call my Alpha Howl at the other three down the road and they turn and run for their lives as I reform into an elf and stand defensively at the head of the group. "Emma Hahren! Ma'vir!" (I am elder! My place!) I cringe.

_I'm seriously in need of a refresher coarse in Elven. That was terrible._

The wolves leave out of sight and I lower my staff and nod in satisfaction.

"What was that?" Garrett asks in surprise.

I pick up and brush the dust off my cloak, "What was what?"

"You turned into a wolf AND a raven!" I look up at him and all three of them look pretty freaked out.

_Huh, Morrigan did say shapeshifting was rare._

"That was shapeshifting, a rare form of ancient and forgotten magic I have learned throughout my travels. Tis useful in a fight no?" I smirk and light a flame in my palm to see them staring at me uneasily. "What? Tis not a matter of good or evil, tis useful!" They just stare. I scoff, "Uneducated novices!" I huff and throw my cloak back on.

Hawke shakes his head and smiles, "Whatever, now lets get back home before the templars find these corpses." I nod and we all turn to jog quickly away from Lothering as the approaching templars I can sense with my passive magical abilities start running.

* * *

Ironically the farm we stop at is the one I stumbled onto two years ago. Garrett knocks at the front door while Carver and especially Bethany watch as a troop of torchlights flicker around in the distance behind us. "We must hurry Garrett, the templar's are coming." I whisper as he knocks on the door again.

"I forgot my key, sorry but unless you want to-"

I kick the door open, bending open the lock and shaking a few books off of a shelf on the right to hit the floor in three loud bangs. I step inside and see a dinner table with five chairs and a bookshelf next to a fireplace on the right wall. A table just past the table against the far wall with alchemical equipment set up and bubbling, a window just above it. I nod, "Nice place." I turn around and see none of them have moved from the doorway. "What?"

"You just broke down our front door with your foot." Carver says in astonishment.

I frown, "Yes, tis not difficult once one knows how to do it without permanently breaking the lock." I raise a finger into the air. "One must not kick without proper instruction or risk breaking their foot." They blink at me in surprise before stepping inside and closing the door. I take a dagger from my cloak and jab it between the bent iron bar and the door and force it to bend back into shape before throwing it down to properly lock the door. "There, just like new."

"What in the Maker was that noise?" We turn around and I quickly sheath my dagger in my cloak. One Leandra Hawke stands in the doorway from the bedrooms to stare at the cloaked stranger in her dinning room in surprise. "Who are you?" She looks over at her children who's appearance is worn down from battle. "Garrett what happened? Who is this? What's going on? Did he break down the door?"

Garrett steps forward, "We were in a fight with some wildlife, this is Darien, the templars noticed our use of magic, and yes, he broke open the lock-"

"I bent open the lock, tis much more useful and less expensive if you avoid breaking the lock." He glares at me but I ignore it as I lower my cowl and hold out my hand, "A pleasure to meet you elder Hawke. I am Darien, an Elven Apostate who stumbled upon your children as they besotted themselves in the local tavern." She takes my hand and shakes it wearily while scowling at her children, most likely from the 'besotted in a tavern' part.

"Hello Darien, I must say I have not met an elven apostate before, nor any apostate other than my husband and children. I would welcome you to my home if I knew your intentions." She states evenly.

I nod and let go of her hand. "I simply wish to stay here, paying rent or no, to avoid any suspicion from the local Chantry as I am quite powerful in the ways of magic and do not wish to harm any miss-guided templar that might cross my path." I pull my cloak up and expertly pull it into it's original design. My staff resting in it's holster on my back with my nearly empty pack that was hidden under my cloak.

She looks me over with a raised eyebrow, a bald, barely covered, mysterious elven apostate with two daggers holstered across his bare chest. She blinks before smiling wearily, "I would request you wear more clothing while you're here, but beyond that as long as you do not endanger my family I am fine with you staying with-"

*BANG BANG BANG*

We all jump as the door shakes on it's hinges.

_Oh great._

"By Chantry decree, open this door!" I hold up a hand to the Hawke family as they prepare for battle and quietly shoo them into the bedrooms.

_Blighted templars... just perfect._

"I'll take care of this." I whisper to them.

*BANG BANG BANG*

I grab a plain shirt and pants from the hamper near the door and throw them on while tossing my cloak at Bethany who catches it in surprise as I redress. "Whatever happens, do NOT come out understand?" Garrett goes to protest and Leandra's scowl shuts him up as I close the door leading out of the other bedrooms probably.

_I hope this works._

*BANG BANG BANG*

"Open up by the-"

I swing the door open to stare at the three templars blankly, "Yes Sir Templar?"

The surprised Knights look down at me, "We are looking for the master of the house." The large leader of the group asks with a slight bit of malice.

I shake my head, "They are asleep, and do not wish to be disturbed." I play the servant and stay adamant.

The templar without a helmet leading the three of them blinks, "Oh? Then would you wake them? I must ask them some questions."

I shake my head, "Lady Hawke requested not to be disturbed." I argue easily.

The templar behind the leader's right shoulder speaks up, "Hawke? The farmers that work with healing potions on the side?"

I nod at him, "Yes, I am their servant, Sulin, and very weary of speaking to templars when I'm supposed to be collecting alchemical ingredients." I look at them wearingly, like I was breaking a rule by talking to them.

They stare at me for a moment, I don't falter under the foolish gaze of the weak-willed Knights. "Alright, well, have you seen anyone running around? Anyone perhaps in dark cloaks?"

I internally scream that someone saw me, but keep myself composed, "No, I was just about to head out though, If I see anyone in dark cloaks I'll be sure to report it."

They all look at each other before shrugging, "That is acceptable, and pass this information to Lady Hawke as well would you?" I nod and close the door quietly behind them as they turn away. I bar the door and look out the window to see them heading back to Lothering and smirk.

_Flemeth taught me well. Foolish templars. I have to burn my cloak, that sucks._

The side door opens up. "How did you do that?" Bethany asks incredulously from the doorway, still holding my cloak.

I smile and take the shirt and pants off before grabbing my cloak from her as she blushes, "I was taught quite well by a powerful apostate who's evaded capture her whole life." She stares at me in astonishment. I wrap the black velvet around me and form my original robes, "Tis not as easy as bending a lock, though I might teach it to you if you are willing." She looks me in the eye and nods with obvious interest.

Leandra steps out as well and smiles at me, "You know how to handle yourself. Welcome to our home Darien." Garret and Carver appear behind her with similar looks of surprise that I fooled the templars with such ease.

"It's good to hear you say that Lady Hawke." I bow as a servant would to a noble.

She laughs, "Oh no, just call me Leandra, I don't need everyone thinking you're my servant. I disliked the idea of being above anyone else even as a little girl." She jokes seriously.

I smile at her forthrightness, "As you wish Leandra."

This is going to go quite smoothly I think. Tis going exactly as planned... to some degree.

* * *

A/N And welcome to the family indeed! So interesting so far is it not? ;)

One question for this one: What do you guys/gals think about the story so far? As always I'm curious. :) And if you have any further questions you can either leave it a review or Private Message me and I'll get back to you ASAP.


	8. The Blight Begins

A/N Here we go, now we're with the Hawkes... lets see how this goes yes?

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

A week passes and Carver joins up with the King's army as they pass through. Leandra is worried but understands. Haw- Garrett (Sod it I always mess that up!) as a mage can't go without risking discovery and he and I have been working around the farm while Bethany and Leandra brew potions. I hoe the dirt, plant the seed, hoe the dirt, plant the seed, hoe the dirt, wipe my sweaty brow, and plant another seed. This goes on for almost seven days straight. Carver left right before the start of the next season.

_If I ever get my hands on that boy I'll strangle him!_

It's not all bad, my body hurts all the time and I haven't been able to concentrate enough to do spells in a while, but I quickly taught Bethany and Leandra how to make a balm to take the ache out of strained muscles and surprisingly when I tried to get my aching back covered, Bethany volunteered to help out.

_She's quite sweet, a bit nervous and timid, but that comes from being an untrained apostate mage. No offense to Malcolm Hawke but his daughter can't cast worth shit. Her only offensive spell she knows is fireball, and even that's lacking. You need fury and passion to cast a proper fireball and she lacks in both departments._

I offered her a chance to learn what I know and only after Leandra of all people convinced her that she needed to protect herself did she agree. "Ok, but It'll be a few weeks before I'm good and ready to cast spells again. This farm work is killing me I swear." She simply giggled in response.

By the end of my second week with the Hawkes we finally had the two fields they owned planted and properly fertilized. The first thing I did when I found out it was over and done was fall to my knees and praise the Maker, Creators, God, Protheans, Athame, the Goddess, the Old Gods, and anyone else I could think of. Seriously, working on a farm is no joke! I got a few strange looks from them when I did that.

"What are you celebrating for? We'll have to do this again in a few months." Garrett states bluntly.

I look up at him and smile, "Where I come from a few months is an awesome vacation." He opens his mouth to clarify and I cut him off, "I know I know, but we aren't going to have to do anything as tedious as planting for a while so I'm happy." He just shrugs and pulls his shirt back on.

_I have got to say, I know why Garrett is ripped now, farm work does that to you. That and extensive physical combat, which is why I'm wiry. Hidden strength is the best strength in my opinion. Tis confusing to enemies when a little elf throws a huge man to the ground and knocks him out with ease._

I look down and roll my shoulders to see the strained muscles bulge slightly from repeated use.

_I have really got to start training with my sword and daggers again, having to jump into animal form to bash someone properly is becoming a hassle._

I shrug.

_I'll figure out a time when I can go hunting and ban myself from using magic while doing so. Maybe I'll see if Fen-Falon is still lurking about in this forest._

I throw on my shirt and walk over to a chest near the fields where I keep my personal items locked away to grab my robes, staff, as well as store my back up daggers in my pack before collecting Bethany and walking out to the clearing I know is just beyond the fields.

"Where are we going?" She asks worriedly.

"Somewhere away from civilization." I respond.

"Oh." She waits for a few more seconds before asking, "What are we doing when we get there?"

"Magic."

_I love being blunt. Saves air._

The tree-line opens up to the field where I dropped out of the Fade and entered this universe.

_Huh, the corpses are still here._

I walk over and touch the bones of a bear whist remembering the first time I did magic, the terrifying rush of adrenaline blinding me from the fact I took another thing's life.

_It doesn't bother me as much as it would have thirty two years ago, but I still hate killing things needlessly._

I turn to Bethany and clap my hands together, "Alright, this is a good spot. Take off your clothes."

Her eyes widen, "What?!"

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose, "If you only know what it feels like to fight with your robes on then we both won't know how powerful your magic is when it stands alone. You can keep your smalls on and I have a dress you can use as a substitute." I hand her the dress I keep in my pack for extra fabric, something basic, one color, nothing special. I turn around and wait for her to change.

Five minutes later she's done and I turn around to grab her robes- "Wow, you are stunning." I breath in shock. The simple white dress hugs her frame perfectly while highlighting her face and making her black hair stand out beautifully by contrast.

She blinks and looks down at herself in confusion. "It's just a simple dress, but thanks."

I shake my head, "Yeah, right."

_What was that about? Did I just-_

I ignore it and fold up her robes/chainmail to stick them in my pack, "Alright, send your most powerful fireball at me, really suck all the mana out of you with this thing, send it right at me."

She frowns, "Wouldn't that kill you?"

I shake my head and sigh, "I've seen you hurl a fireball, no offense, but a child could do better. I think I'll be fine." She scowls and grabs her staff- "Hold it!" She stops to look at me. I step up and hold out my hand, "Hand it over."

She blinks before giving me her staff and frowning at the loss of basic concentration it gave her. "Wait, how can I fight if I don't have a staff?"

I laugh, "Really? Your father never taught you?" I smirk at her.

She blushes, "Well, no. He did teach Carver some things but-"

I shake my head, "No, I mean using your magic without all the helpful gadgets to help you concentrate."

She blinks, "No he never-"

"Then we are going to have a lot of work to do." I holster the staff in the spare loop on my pack and set everything aside, including my own staff and robes. "Without a staff or robes in particular, mages lose a magnitude of their concentration easily. Tis the only reason they don't give their robes up once they escape from the circle. They simply have no way to harness their magic effectively without them." I signal Bethany to sit down in the grass and she does. I join her. "If you train without them then your mental strength will increase rapidly. Your mind is the one muscle that is the quickest to change if given the right push." I open my palm and a bright flame bursts into existence at my un-augmented will. "If you practice spells then they will become stronger. Learning new spells is difficult at first, but it becomes easier to use them once you do grab hold of a staff or your robes." I push more mana into the flame and it grows, Bethany watches intently. "The most primal of all magic, one born of fury and passion, Fire." I close my fist and the flame ends. I wave my hand to her, "Now try."

She gulps and holds out her bare hands to try and cast her magic. She frowns in deep concentration and barely gets a small spark off without having to let it go and pant at the exertion. I shake my head, "No, you are trying to bring fire into existence, not a butterfly. Reach out and take it by force!" I shout at her, hoping it would make her angry, but it just scares her. I sigh and try another way, "Your father was worthless." I mutter quietly.

"What?" She looks at me in shock.

"Your father was worthless if he taught you this crap! Nothing but a peasant playing at controlling his magic!" I snarl.

She frowns deeply, "No, he was honorable! He did good things! He wasn't worthless!"

I laugh at her, "Honor?! HA! He was an outcast piece of sod who married a whore!"

"Take that back!" She shouts a in rage as she stands, fist clenched in anger.

I jump up, "Not in a million years little girl, your whore of a mother might enjoy fucking me you know that?"

She clenches her teeth in fury. "Take. It. Back." She bites out.

_I've got her now._

I smirk, "Your entire family is nothing but a lying, stinking pile of dog cr-" I block a blast of fire with an equal amount of frost as she screams out at me in fury and passion, which fuels her fire. She throws a fireball and I grab it out of the air to redirect it into the pond to explode in a wave of steam. She throws two more fireballs and I dodge them, laughing at how much power she's throwing out.

_There we go baby!_

I duck under the last one before she falls to her knees and yells out in frustration that her mana was exhausted. "Sod." She grunts as she pants from the terrible strain on her mind.

I walk over and push her onto her back so she can relax, "Calm down Bethany." She glares at me and I laugh whole-heartedly. "Now that was a fight! No restraints! So much fury, so much passion!" She stares at me in shock that I played her. "KABOOM! Maker how did you throw three fireballs AND a cone of flame with one mana burst?!" She blushes as her breathing calms down. "How did it feel?" I ask excitedly.

I help her to a sitting position and she looks at me happily, "Good, like a thousand fires burning in my heart were released."

I laugh, "So poetic, but true. Master apostates such as myself, and my former master before me, were trained to fight with our emotions as a boost to our power. That's one reason why I'm a good actor. Since we have to have a firm grip on our emotions to cast most of our magic, we can lie and get away with it with ease."

Bethany frowns, "So to cast fire magic I need to be angry?"

I shake my head, "No, you need to be furious, or burning with passion to really throw massive forces behind your spells. The downside of this is the sex."

She coughs, "Excuse me?!" her voice jumps an octave.

I smile at her, "Yeah, it gets interesting in bed when you have your magic attuned to your emotions. I can personally say that you definitely don't want want to try it until you have total control of your fire magic. Screaming out in passion might just set your house on fire."

She blushes and looks away, looking really uncomfortable. "No sex, got it." She manages to squeak out.

I help her to her feet, "Ok, now lets do that again." She gawks at me like I'm insane. "Hey, without practice this magic could quite literally turn your life into a living hell." She raises an eyebrow in confusion. "You know, fire, hell... oh right... the Chantry doesn't believe in that... great, I just shot myself in the foot." She laughs and a spark flies out of her hand. She stares at it before I stomp it out in the dirt. "You really need to keep yourself as tranquil as possible while we're training." She nods enthusiastically and the grass in front of her catches fire. I sigh as I put it out.

_This is going to take a fort-night I swear._

* * *

_I have managed to teach Bethany many tricks about using fire magic over the course of these last two weeks. Her confidence in her abilities and attitude towards magic in general is rapidly turning towards the positive side and I think that-_

The front door rattles on it's hinges, breaking my concentration and causing a large black scratch across the parchment in front of me. "Hold them back already! I'm almost done packing!" Garrett shouts from the bedrooms while Leandra runs about, frantically grabbing anything of importance or possible value.

I sigh while bursting the parchment on fire and turn around to flash a blast of frost through the shattered window and solidify the crowd of darkspawn outside in a thin layer of ice. "Alright, you've got about..." I count forty of them frozen and another sixty and-

_Holy shit is that an Ogre?!_

"Yeah we got like two minutes!" I shout back while gripping my staff tighter, staring uncertainly at the future battle in front of us.

Carver arrived just before the horde did, he burst through the front door while everyone was eating and screamed that the darkspawn horde was on his arse. Not a second later came the first wave of darkness that set my passive magical aura aflame with black tainted energy. I naturally freaked out and told everyone to pack while soldier boy here and I kept them off the house. Carver chose the back door, I chose the front.

"How are you doing back there?!" I shout over the incessant noise of the horde that drowned out any chance at talking regularly.

"Ten down, five to-" *CRACK!* "Make that four to go!" I smile at the courage and skill Carver's gained from his last few months in the army.

_He's still a bit of a tit, but he's a trained tit so I'll learn to ignore him._

"Done!" I turn and barely catch a heavy pack full of what feels like books. "That one is filled with all your stuff!" Garrett states quickly. I nod and throw it over my shoulder before adjusting the straps so I could fight with it on. He hands one to Bethany and she silently accepts it, her face blank from practiced control of her emotions. "I have all the potions and healing supplies so if I go down you all go down!" He explains quickly. I agree with a simple nod and so does Bethany.

"You'd better lead this one brother, I'll be too occupied to direct traffic!" Carver shouts before beheading another darkspawn.

Garrett ignores him as the front door cracks in half from a battleaxe cutting it apart. "GO!" He shouts.

I quickly freeze the rest in the back of the house and Carver shatters them with a sweep of his blade.

"Lets move!" I catch Leandra by the arm and push her out the door, dragging her along for a bit until she catches her footing and starts running as well. We get to the edge of the forest before Bethany and I turn abruptly to raise our hands into the air and pull a rain of fireballs down upon the horde following us. They all die in a raining field of fire, only a few burning stragglers are still alive when we turn back around to catch up with the group.

_Bethany has become my sort of apprentice, she respects me as much as her own mother she said once. I teach her advanced combat magic and she follows my every instruction without hesitation. She was the first to start packing when I shouted it across the dinning room as Carver burst through the door. She hasn't even spoken to him yet and she can thank me for that strong mental discipline. At times like these it pays to be prepared mentally._

We follow Garrett through the forest until it opens up to a barren wasteland, every plant, every tree, every single animal scorched and tainted for miles. I can see the Imperial Highway in the distance, but nothing else is positive. Just small bands of darkspawn skittering about. "By the maker, this place seriously needs some greenery." We all turn to Bethany and stare at her in surprise. "What? Look at it all. It's so black, I'd start a garden if the horde wasn't behind us."

I snicker and Garrett rolls his eyes, "Right, lets move."

We follow the path, the sounds of the horde slowly quieting to the silence. Even their war drums being barely heard in the distance is drowned out to a simple echo, but we keep running. The only sound we can hear is our feet treading through the dead sand and scorched earth, our heartbeats pounding out our need to escape the horde.

* * *

_Darkness, I've become fond of the concept over my three lifetimes. It's the center of who I am as a person and who I aspire to, but this?_

I shake my head as my mind's eye takes in the horde of darkness at our heel.

_It's horrific and beyond daunting..._

Leandra trips over one of the last surviving roots in the burned forest and falls to the ground. Bethany yells out while waving her hand at the small group of darkspawn behind us. A wall of fire engulfs a few of them while the rest back off, knowing the magical flames would incinerate them on contact.

_That's my girl._

I smile at the beautiful display of primal energy as Garrett helps Leandra to her feet.

_I'm considered adept at my magic, even on the verge of expert in some areas. Honing enough power and mana to get to this point has been hellish, but tis what you do to get by._

"Mother are you alright?" Garrett asks as Leandra steadies herself.

"Maker save us, we've lost it all. Everything your father and I built..." Leandra starts to tear up.

"I know how much Lothering meant to you, but we have to move." Garrett pushes gently.

"Yes, you're right." She sniffles and wipes a tear away with her sleeve.

"We barely had time to pack, why did we wait so long?" Bethany's hard gaze directs the question to Carver.

"Don't look at me! I've been running since Ostagar!" He retorts in shock that his twin sister was so harsh.

I scoff, "And I'm the queen of Antiva." I mutter quietly. Bethany's lips twitch with a slight smile.

"We have to keep moving, I don't enjoy the idea of being eaten by the darkspawn." Garrett states frightfully, effectively cutting off Bethany and Carver's argument. I nod in agreement.

Carver folds his arms over his Ferelden armor, "Well then, lead on brother."

Garrett nods and steps forward as I snap-freeze a group of darkspawn that tried to sneak up on us from behind. Carver finishes them off with his bastard sword.

"Take this you hopeless bastards." I look behind me and see Bethany casting something. Tendrils of heat shift around her as she tosses three small fireballs into the frontal group, bombarding them with enough elemental force and primal fire to literally rip them apart.

Garrett nods to us in acknowledgment before whistling sharply. Suddenly the family Mabari jumps from the hillside to land onto and crush a darkspawn into the scorched earth. He bites down and snaps it's neck before it even knows what the hell happened.

"Carver!" Garrett shouts.

Carver swings his blade around, cutting down two more darkspawn that managed to sneak up on us. I spot a genlock and throw three frost wisps at it to slow it down enough for Bethany to fireball it into oblivion.

"I think that's all of them." Carver exclaims, blood splattered across his breastplate and gauntlets.

Garrett sighs as the fight ends and we regroup to move on.

_So far I've avoided using my fade magic around the Hawkes. I don't think they'll appreciate me using blood, and fade magic in one sitting. It's starting to strain my abilities though. Even with all the power I have using my regular magic, I'm still bad at sending out spells in repetition. It starts getting too taxing and suddenly I'm out of mana and struggling to stay awake._

I jog forwards after collecting a few silvers from a corpse and barely hear the last half of the next conversation. "Away from the darkspawn, where else?" Carver states bluntly.

"We can't just wander aimlessly!" Bethany argues forcefully.

I see Leandra look away for a moment before saying, "We can go to Kirkwall."

Garrett raises an eyebrow, "Kirkwall? Oh great, and I was just starting to miss being hounded by mage-hunters." Bethany and I suppress a laugh.

"There are a lot of templars in Kirkwall mother." Bethany clarifies.

"I know that, but we still have family there, and an estate." She argues.

Bethany and I sigh, obviously my tutelage was making her more impatient than usual.

_I guess it comes with being an accomplished apostate mage._

"Then we need to head to Gwaren and take ship." Bethany states with a bit of annoyance in her voice I barely catch.

"If we survive that long, I'll be happy just to get out of here." Carver states frightfully.

I shrug, "As long as we survive it won't-" I quickly toss a fireball to wipe out a group of hurlocks that again were trying to get the jump on us, "-matter where we are." They look at me in slight surprise, but jump into combat mode all the same. I don't wait for their reaction as I dash around the corner, my spare daggers already out to replace my staff.

"Blight take you!" I spot Aveline and... her husband who's name I've forgotten, fighting a group of ten darkspawn alone.

I push ahead and let my old self-defensive instincts trigger where I need to cut, where I need to dodge, and all the such. I jump into the group, stabbing bleeding wounds into as many as I can to distract them from... Wesley! That's his name! Yeah Wesley, as he tries to work the crowd like his fearless wife. I slice the throats of three darkspawn and dodge a few swords as they direct their attention to the shadow dancing around them.

_Hahaha! Take that you bastards!_

I spin into a small whirlwind, cutting through the soft spots in their armor and allowing Aveline and Wesley to easily take them down without too much trouble. "Uh!" Aveline parries a sword and slices through the hurlock's chest as two more distract her. Then I see the sneaky bastard behind Wesley and let lose a dagger with relative precision. Wesley was facing my direction so he ducks as it flies over his head to embed into the sword arm of the hurlock. It screams out in anger and grabs it's own sword with its other hand to try and take another swing. Wesley at this point has turned around to block the attack with his shield and then bash it against the dark creatures head before beheading it with one quick slice.

_Oh by the Creators that is terrible judgment right there._

Naturally it showers him in black tainted blood as he ignores it to stab through the chest of a darkspawn trying to go for Aveline's weak left side.

I hear the distinct sound of a fireball being hurled and nearly shat myself as it explodes in front of my face, my arcane shield taking a massive hit but nothing my mana can't restore. The three darkspawn that were flanking me weren't so lucky as they all fly into the hillside and shatter their burning corpses against the rocks with primal force. I look over and see the Hawkes have joined the fight.

_About damn time!_

Carver jumps in and takes out two with one swing while Aveline and Wesley retreat to catch their breath.

I reach down and rip my dagger from the dead beheaded hurlock and- "RAARR!" I whip around and cross my daggers in front of me to block the large claws of a shadowed creature.

_Oh crap! Shriek!_

I quickly parry two more claw attempts and hop back away from a furry of attacks with my superior dexterity only to nearly fall off the edge of the small cliff. "Come here your bastard!" Carver shouts. The Shriek turns and screeches at him. I take the opportunity and stab it with both of my daggers in the back with a double critical hit, causing it to stagger and give Carver the opportunity to chop it in half, ending the fight.

I take a huge breath, "Thanks Carver, that was a close one." He nods and we go back to regroup and greet our fellow survivors.

"Apostates! Keep your distance!" And be immediately threatened by said ungrateful son of a bi- I mean fellow survivor! Wesley points his sword at Garrett and Bethany and I flicker a chilling touch onto his blade as I run my finger lazily across it while Carver and I pass Aveline and him to rejoin the group. "Three apostates, how lucky a day we've been having." He bites out.

"Oh how the Maker has a sense of humor, first darkspawn and now a blighted templar?" Bethany sighs and mutters quietly with a frown, "It's like he's trying to piss us off." She speaks up again, "I thought they all abandoned Lothering." I smile at Bethany's rudeness.

"The spawn are clear in their intent, but a mage is always unknown." He takes a step forwards, still pointing the tip of his longsword at Garrett's neck. "The order dictates-"

Aveline places a hand on his sword arm, "Wesley."

He shakes it off and steps forward menacingly, his blade up against Garrett's throat as he stares back without emotion. "The order dictates-" He's cut off once again.

Aveline speaks in a quiet and loving whisper I can barely hear from behind Bethany. "Dear they saved us, the Maker understands." Her voice is commanding, but gentle and kind as well.

Wesley's face instantly softens and he lowers his sword. "Of course."

I scoff quietly, "You'd think he'd thank me for saving his sorry ass." I mutter just loud enough for the Hawkes to hear. Bethany smirks at that.

_I really have corrupted her with my teachings haven't I? All well, she's better off like this I think._

"My name is Aveline Vallen, this is my husband Ser Wesley. We can hate each other when we're safe from the horde." Aveline states kindly.

Garrett frowns at them, "Keep your templar in order, we don't need another incident to add to our misfortune."

I raise an eyebrow at his anger and decide to change the subject as I turn to Wesley to address his stupidity, "I saw you get splashed by darkspawn blood, if you have any open cuts or wounds then you'll definitely be poisoned. We should check quickly before we move on."

_I might be cynical and blunt, but I'm not letting anyone else die for me, not again, not after failing to save Aren._

Wesley stares at me, looking horrified and hesitant, "Maker, check him already so we can get moving." Aveline pushes him forward to meet me face to face in-between the two groups. He scowls but nods reluctantly.

I check him over, pulling at his armor and padding to find he wasn't even nicked, miraculously only his armor was covered in blood, not his head. "Looks like he's clean, unless he accidentally swallowed any of it or got it in his eyes then he should be good." Aveline breaths a sigh of relief and smiles at Wesley as he looks at her questioningly.

"Well then, off we go." We all take Garrett's advice and move forwards down the trail.

"So what brings you to Lothering?" I ask Aveline as I find myself in the back of the group with her as Wesley stays near Garrett and Bethany just in case.

She looks over at me, "I was at Ostagar and after the army fell to betrayal we fled. Wesley was en-route to Denerim on an assignment when he turned south at hearing Ostagar was a loss." She looks forwards with a bit of loving scrutiny at her husband, "His bad judgment and my bad luck got us fighting the same crowd of darkspawn just south of Lothering, we were trying to make it past the Horde when you showed up." She looks at me as I nod. "Tell me, you're a mage but you use daggers in close combat like an experienced rogue, why is that?"

I smile up at her curiosity and finger the hilt of one of the silverite daggers I had hand-crafted by the blacksmith in Lothering for a few sovereigns. "I learned the art of dagger and shadow from my childhood and my magic only started manifesting a few years back. I naturally had the skills to dodge suspicious types like your husband and ended up becoming an apprentice to a powerful with in the Kocari Wilds after a few unfortunate events."

Aveline's red eyebrows shoot up, "A witch? In the Kocari Wilds? I am hesitant to ask what her name was."

I smirk but don't get a word in as I spot hurlocks attacking us from all sides. "We'll talk later!" I shout before grabbing my daggers and coating them with arcane flames. I spot a crowd behind us and toss a fireblast at them, setting them aflame with arcane fire that stagger them while melting off their flesh. Aveline jumps in when the fire dies down to finish off the two remaining hurlocks with ease. The fight ends quite quickly as I spot Garrett using some sort of force magic to push the elevated hurlock bolters off their small ledge to be cut down by Wesley and Carver with ease. All in all the ambush takes about ten seconds to end, surprising.

_Well we do have an extra sword and myself on the team so it should be easier, or at least I'd hope it'd be easier. Now all I need is to figure out how to keep Bethany from being killed by the Ogre._

I shrug as nothing comes to mind that I'd enjoy, but nothing else matters right now.

_Everyone here must live under my watch, tis not a rule, tis law, and I will not forgive myself if one more person dies for me. T'would possibly break my soul._

I shake my head clear and ready my daggers for a difficult battle as we turn a corner and I spot my first darkspawn Emissary.

* * *

A/N Yep, the Blight is happening. Don't worry, you'll all get to see Darien meet Flemeth in the next chapter! :D


	9. A Raven is NOT a meal!

A/N I'm still getting used to work and college. Anyways this is the next part I promised on Monday but forgot about until now. :)

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

"Maker's balls! Darien take that thing out!" I snap up and find my target a few feet away. I dash over, dodging around the swords and bolts being thrown at me to roll away from another fireball and engage the Emissary Apprentice at close range. It howls as my daggers slice through it's cloth protection to cause bleeding wounds all across it's black and gray skin. It doesn't like that one bit as it tries to claw at my head. I manage to roll around to it's back and hit it with a flurry of back-stabs until it falls to the ground, dead.

_The Emissary took us by surprise with two fireballs that knocked our warriors on their asses, then the bolters caught me and Bethany in a crossfire before I could manage to toss a firestorm down. Wesley's so far been shot eight times, me three. Bethany I think pulled one out of her leg before turning the darkspawn responsible, and eight others around it, into piles of ash. Aveline cuts down the last bolter while Carver holds back the reinforcements coming from behind us with Bethany._

I glare at the five darkspawn in front of me dangerously. Twirling my daggers around, I nick my palms just enough to turn the blood into fade magic instantly, lighting my blades up with green eternal fade flames. I jump forwards, each cut draining the pure life force out of the darkspawn it hits and using it to set the victim aflame. They scream out I agony before dying within seconds, no mercy for these creatures. The last wisp of fade magic heals my cuts before anyone notices. "Well, that was fun." I state truthfully.

_I always love a good maiming in the morning._

Scanning the barren field I spot the last darkspawn being cut down by Carver as Hawke goes to Wesley's side to heal him. In the mean time I jog over to where the locked chest was from the videogame and see it hidden behind a scorched rock. "What to do what to do."

_I don't know how to pick locks without a lot of time, which we don't have so..._

I take my daggers, slam one into the key hole, and stab the other against the side of the lock itself, it breaks easily due to the rust. I open it up and smile as I see a nice looking longbow and a few health poultices, along with a small quiver of arrows. "Hawke didn't you say you took up archery with your father when you were younger?" I call over my shoulder, wincing as I forget to say his name.

"Yeah, we went on hunting trips and I liked the bow, why?" He answers with a frown.

_Yep he's pissed I didn't use his name._

I pocket the poultices and toss the bow and quiver at him as he walks over from finishing his healing of Wesley. He grabs them out of the air and smiles at the fine Oakwood craftsmanship, it was definitely stolen from the Dalish. "This is nice, but don't you think it's a bit odd for me, as a mage, to use this?" He raises an eyebrow at me in question.

I shrug, "Call it a backup weapon. This way if you ever have to fight in a heavily populated area with many witnesses or maybe even templars, you could blend in as an archer and not flaunt your magic for the world to see." He nods in understanding and pulls the quiver over his shoulder before notching an arrow and frowning at the bow. He sits down while everyone watches and re-strings the bow within a moment and a half.

_Damn he's good._

I walk away and search the corpse lying next to an open book. I jump as an arrow hits the corpse next to my head and look back to see Garrett smirking.

_That was for the 'Hawke' thing wasn't it._

I sigh and collect the arrow and book on the Kocari Wilds before walking over, "Ah, I've forgotten how good a shot you were darling." Leandra comments as Garrett holsters the bow on a strap next to his staff.

"This will do nicely." He comments while getting a feel at being an archer-mage.

I smile at him as he practices drawing each of his weapons, "Welcome to the club man."

He frowns, "What club?"

I scoff, "The double-class club man! We're literally rogue-mages!" I slap him on the shoulder and laugh as he shakes his head at my antics.

We make our way up to the clearing where the Ogre lays in wait. I stay close to Bethany and grab her arm as she goes to take the lead. She looks at me angrily but at my worried expression she nods in understanding and stays close. The ground shakes with the footsteps of the brute, knocking me off my feet as it charges into our group. It roars out and turns towards Leandra as Bethany and I get back to our feet. "Holy Maker give me strength!" Wesley is the first to charge at it. "Ah!" And just like in the game he's grabbed, smashed into the ground, and chucked across the battlefield filling up with darkspawn to crack his head against a rock and go limp.

_Just like I planned... well, at least that was what I hoped would happen._

_..._

_I'm seriously a bad person._

"Wesley!" Aveline shouts in shock.

"Bethany, soul fire! NOW!" I shout out as I cut my hand, bending the blood to my will and tearing a sliver into the fade in the main line of the deep cut.

She understands and flips her staff around to impale it into the dirt and use it as a focus to her magic. "Maker give me strength." She whispers just before throwing her hands into the air and pulling ancient fire from the air itself to rain down upon the roaring ogre.

"Fire and Ice." I mutter before closing my eyes and just focusing on the fade magic. I reach out blindly and snap a pool of water at it's feet before manipulating it into spikes of ice that shoot up and into the Ogre's limbs, holding it in place.

"Take the monster down!" Aveline shouts as she and Carver rush forwards to hold back the crowd of darkspawn charging at Bethany and I.

I take the hint and ignore the delicious offers the thousands of demons promise while pulling all the fade magic I can hold in my palm. The green and black swirls of energy listening to my voice as I command death. The orb is thrown from my palm... it slams into the beast and implodes in a blast of dark magic I have never tried, not wished to harness until now.

"Holy Maker..." Aveline breathes as she stares at the wisps of energy ripping chunks of flesh off the darkspawn around us to melt and reform into green flames of the fade and bombard the ogre in an enormous display of power and will...

I struggle to hold the spell steady and fall to my kneel as my palm burns from the deep slit into the fade I created. I whisper 'mend' in Ancient Tevinter and hold myself strong as the torrent of fade energy and flames dies down to drop the seared, mangled, heap of flesh that was once an ogre back to earth.

_Oh... that's why I don't use it, too messy._

I shake my daze off and say, "There we go." I cough up some blood and wipe it away as everyone stares at me in shocked silence.

Bethany is the first to speak, "You used blood magic." I look at her and see her actually scared.

"Yes, and no. My magic is unnatural and can pull energy from the Fade itself, but to do so I require blood since a lot of power is needed to tear the Veil." I sigh. "So actually I use it as a catalyst for my other magical abilities when needed."

She stares at me for a few seconds before smiling weakly, "It's powerful, I'm weary of asking how you learned it, but I think I know the answer."

I shake my head, "No, I did not speak to a demon, my former master taught me it." I state forcefully.

"Could you two shut your traps and watch for more darkspawn? Aveline is grieving!" Carver shouts from across the clearing.

I cringe that I forgot Wesley so easily and we run over to hear Aveline talking softly, "You fool. Why did you have to sacrifice yourself?"

Garrett steps up and places a hand on her shoulder, "We need to get going."

"He died bravely, the order would be proud." I say with false comfort. I turn around to watch the edges for any darkspawn activity.

Aveline tears up before forcing them back down and solidifying her outer shell like a soldier. She stands and turns to quickly pull out her sword and beat me to the punch, "Flames, we're too late."

I look around at the literal horde of darkspawn. I pant from my last bout of fade magic, I was not going to be able to help out for at least a few more moments.

Carver swings his blade in warning but backs up slightly as he takes in the horde around us. "There's no end to them!" He shouts. I'm inclined to agree.

_This is not going to go well... Come on Flemeth, you batty old witch, it's time to save our asses!_

I look up at the mountain where she normally is and almost fall to my knees in relief as her dragon form unfolds.

*SCREECH!*

"AH!" And blows out my ears.

_God mother freaking damn it!_

I cover my ringing ears as she flies over, torching the darkspawn with her breath. She lands in front of us and grabs a darkspawn like a toy to crush it in her claw. A flash of light swirls around her form and it shrinks down to reveal her 'Human' form.

Flemeth, in all her glory and wickedness, steps forwards and places a hand on her hip as she takes in out battered and weary group. "Well, well, what have we here?" She smiles and watches us with her unnerving gaze. "It used to be we never got visitors to the Wilds, but now it seems they arrive in hordes!"

Bethany is the first to speak, "What in the Maker? Seriously? The Blight, a bloody templar, an Ogre, and now a talking Dragon?!" She shakes her head and glares skyward, "I hope you're having a good laugh up there you worthless piece of sod!" Everyone but me stares at Bethany in shock. I laugh.

Flemeth laughs as well, "Oh, you I like." She turns to look at me directly. "Well, I wasn't expecting us to meet again so soon. Has life treated you well Darien?"

I ignore the looks the group is giving me and shrug, "Not too bad, I expected more cake though." I can feel everyone look at me like I'm insane again.

_I'm not insane, THE CAKE IS A LIE! Or maybe I am._

She grins at our inside joke and looks at Garrett, the leader of the group, before turning to walk away. "If you wish to flee the darkspawn, you should know you are heading in the wrong direction."

Bethany steps forward, "Wait! You can't just leave us here!"

Flemeth stops and looks over her shoulder lazily, "Can I not?" She turns fully and steps towards us again, "I spotted a most curious sight: a mighty ogre, vanquished!" She throws her arms into the air before looking at me directly as they fall back down, "Who could perform such a feat?"

I smirk, "You are welcome for the entertainment mother." For the third time today everyone stares at me in shock.

Flemeth smiles happily for a split second, "Hmm... But now my curiosity is sated, and you are safe... for the moment. Is that not enough?"

Garrett speaks up for the first time since Wesley died, "You could show me that trick of yours. That looks useful." and it's sarcasm.

_All we need is the death of a templar to brighten up Garrett Hawke's mood again._

"HAHAHA! I daresay it is! Such a clever tongue for a mage!" She smiles, amused by Garrett. "Tell me, clever child: How do you intend to out-run the Blight?"

Bethany answers for him as she crosses her arms, "We need to get to Kirkwall. In the Free Marches." Her tone is serious, but her eyes are bored! Oh I'm going to have to ask her how she figured that out later! That's just brilliant!

Flemeth and I share a small smile, "Kirkwall? My, but that is quite the voyage you plan." She looks at the back of the group, at Aveline and Carver, "Your King will not miss you hmm?"

"He's dead." They stare at each other in shock that they said it together.

"Well that was interesting." I mutter before Flemeth speaks up again.

"Hurtled into the chaos, your fight... and the world will shake before you." She turns to contemplate it. "Is it fate or chance? I can never decide." She turns back to us. "It appears fortune smiles on us both today, I may be able to help you yet."

Garrett frowns, "There must be a catch."

Flemeth laughs, "There is a catch, Life is a catch! I suggest you catch it while you can!" I smile at her blunt insanity.

_Oh it's good to listen to her ramble again. Feels like home._

I scoff, "And don't forget the Lotion! It gets rather dry, being alive." She ignores me in favor of rolling her eyes.

Bethany shakes her head, "Apparently everyone else has gone mad! I don't even know what she is!"

Aveline butts in, "I know what she is. The Witch of the Wilds."

"Some call me that. Also Flemeth. Asha'bellanar. An 'old hag who talks too much!'" She laughs softly.

I sigh happily as I remember who actually said it, "Oh Ser Rodric. You were so much fun before you were eaten alive."

Flemeth winks at me before addressing the group again, "Does it matter? I offer you this: I will get your group past the horde in exchange for a simple delivery to a place not far out of your way. Would you do this for a 'Witch of the Wilds?'"

Garrett turns to us, "Should we trust her?"

Aveline and Carver immediately say, "No."

I scoff, "Mother is good for her word, she may be the definition of insanity, but so am I and we're the best of friends!"

Bethany shrugs, "Sure, go ahead and get us eaten by the talking dragon." I smile at her sarcasm.

_Yep, I've corrupted this poor girl... and I don't care one bit. She's alive and, I'll call that a victory._

Garrett turns back to Flemeth and asks, "You would go through all that trouble to have something delivered?"

"I have... an appointment to keep. It is far more convenient this way. Happily, you're not without your own needs."

Garrett blinks as he takes in the newest wave of insanity before raising an eyebrow in question, "What is a Witch of the Wilds exactly?"

I speak up, "Well... for one she's my mother. Not by birth, but I see her as my elder parent. One that requires respect. Other than that..."

Aveline puts in her two bits, "A Chasind Legend. Witches that steal children."

I raise a finger, "I can confirm that." I glare at Flemeth, "She steals sleeping adults from the arms of their lovers as well apparently."

"Bah! As if I had nothing else to do!" She retorts with a wicked smirk.

Bethany stares at her, "You're an apostate?" She asks in surprise.

Flemeth nods, "Yes, just like you and Darien over there. We have so much in common." I wince as I know that there's more in common between me and her then I want to admit.

"We don't have much choice then." Garrett says sadly.

Flemeth watches him, "We never do. There is a clan of Dalish elves near the city of Kirkwall." She steps forwards and hands the amulet containing a part of her soul or something to Garrett. "Deliver this amulet to their keeper, Marethari. Do as she asks with it and any debt between us will be paid in full." She turns away, "Before I take you anywhere however, there is another matter..."

I watch them in confusion, Wesley was dead, so what is-? They turn towards me.

_Oh shit! I almost forgot the Warden! Duh!_

I internally facepalm and go to take a step towards Flemeth and Bethany jumps in-between us. "No! You will not take my master!" She shouts, once again shocking us all.

I rest a hand on her shoulder, "Bethany, I must go."

She turns to me, sadness beaming in her young and determined eyes, "No! I have too much to learn from you! You cannot just leave!"

_Ok, I did not anticipate this. Lets see..._

I reach into my pack and pull out the first book I find. A Tevinter book on Fire and Ice magic that I translated into common tongue in my spare time. "Here, this will guide you down the right paths of destiny."

She takes the large book and hugs it to her chest, her face showing a large amount of emotion. Fear, sorrow, understanding, and grief. "I don't want you to go." She whispers as a tear comes to her eye.

I sigh and hug her briefly, "I'll be back after a while. Mother and I both have appointments to keep." I look past her to see both Garrett and Flemeth smirking at me.

Bethany nods, "I'll study all I can for your return, and make you proud."

I smile as a father would for their child. "You already have." She smiles back and I turn to see Carver and Aveline still silently watching me wearily.

_They don't know me yet, tis quite understandable._

I look past them and walk up to Leandra as she stands in the back, going completely unnoticed throughout the whole thing. "Leandra." I hold out my hand to her and she hugs me.

I hold her tight as she whispers in my ear, "Be safe Darien, and do avoid getting yourself killed would you? I would hate for all our talks to go to waste." She kisses my cheek and I blush in response.

"Of course Leandra." I turn back and walk over to the family Mabari whose name I still don't know. "Hey boy, I know another Mabari that'll just love to hear about you." The dog barks happily. "Yep, so what do you want me to note you as? Noble? Generous?" He growls. "How about fearsome and loyal beyond measure!" He jumps up and licks my face, I laugh and push him down. "Alright, alright. I'll see you in a year or so." He looks up at me worriedly. "Yeah I'm worried too boy, but I have to help the Wardens, this country depends on their success, on my success." He whimpers and I scratch behind his ear. "Dareth shiral falon." I turn and walk up to the last one of the group, Garrett. "I'll have to-"

He holds up his hand, "I don't want to know, I never want to know, just stay alive and meet us in Kirkwall after you're done." I shake his hand. "Oh and thanks for the tip about the bow, fellow rogue-mage."

I laugh and nod to him before finally addressing Flemeth directly, "Where are they?" I don't even bother using names, she knows who I'm talking about.

"Just arriving at the Circle Tower by Lake Calenhad. If you fly, it may take no more than two days to catch sight of their camp." I nod in agreement before turning towards the barren wilds and jumping off the ground, instantly my magic envelopes me and a caw out my happiness at finally using my powers again. I circle the area to catch everyone's shocked expressions before soaring off north east of there.

_Oh how I love being an animal, so refreshing to feel the wind whipping through my feathers once again!_

I caw again and nearly laugh at the strange feeling of being so different, but it felt right.

_Morrigan must feel so lonely as a human, as an animal it's never about loneliness, the Wilds are always there to greet you warmly, or coldly, whichever nature decides for that day._

I dive down as I reach an area not tainted by the darkspawn and land on a tree branch to rest for a bit and think about how I'm going to convince the Warden to take me in.

_Perhaps I'll just use Morrigan as a playing card? No, that would no doubt anger her. Perhaps display my power? Maybe, maybe._

I ruffle my feathers as a chill runs down my spine. I turn and squawk in surprise as a group of darkspawn start shooting at me. I dodge the bolts and arrows and flutter away, not stopping for at least another two miles before taking a proper rest as the sun goes down. I perch myself at the top of a tree, just below some leaves and close my eyes to slip into my birdy dreams for the night.

* * *

"Shh! You're going to scare it off!" A person, a male, whispers from below.

"Oh be quiet, I know what I'm doing." The second responds, a female with a strange accent.

I blink awake and stretch my wings in surprise that I was still I my bird form. I look around and find the sun was just bar-

An arrow hits the tree trunk next to my head and I freeze in shock before looking down and seeing two humans aiming at me. "Hurry! It's getting away!" Another arrow and a bolt hits the tree where I used to be a moment after I hop down to a lower branch, by heart beating so rapidly it starts to skip a few beats.

'What the hell! I'm not a bird you morons!' my sentence comes out as a sharp and emotional *CAW!*.

I internally swear as I hop to the edge of the branch and jump, flapping my huge wings and diving low enough to see my attackers, an orange-haired human female with a bow in leather armor and a human male in splintmail armor and a crossbow. They point at me and fire again, I dodge them perfectly and land onto the ground to caw at them dangerously.

"Hurry up! While it's on the ground!" The male shouts.

An arrow scrapes against my head, nearly taking out an eye and disorientating me. Everything goes blurry and I can see three of the female as she notches another arrow to put me down.

_Damn it, survived the horde only to be cut down by two huma-_

A flash of something passes in-between us as the arrow is fired. It never reaches it's target as a Human Female in dark robe-

_What?!_

I croak in shock up at her and shake my daze off to look at the other's more closely.

_Oh my god..._

I'm faintly aware of a pair of gently hands picking me up and the next thing I know I'm resting comfortably on the woman's shoulder.

"Morrigan? What are you doing?! That bird was supposed to go with the stew!" The human male say-

I blink.

_Oh crud. Why hello there Alistair... Leliana._

I ruffle my feathers slightly as I internally swear and grin at finding them so... unconventionally.

"Tis not a simple bird you simpleton! Tis an intelligent and experienced Raven whom I happen to know quite well!" Morrigan retorts.

Alistair gawks, "You're confiscating our meal because you think you know it?"

Leliana looks surprised as well, but nods before putting away her bow. "Come on Alistair, lets just go back to camp. We can discuss this with the Warden."

Morrigan scoffs, "Do not think she will chose your side over mine." She crosses her arms as I blink at the 'she' part. "Tis not easy making a friend with I as you do know. This animal has done the impossible on many occasion and it t'would be a shame if it was killed and eaten simply to supply another one of your disgusting meals Alistair."

Alistair groans, "Now I'm wondering if I'm the crazy one! Morrigan's only friend is a bird, the only one who likes my cooking is a dog, and our only rogue is a chantry sister!"

I croak out my laughter and the two of them stare at me strangely before leaving out of sight. Morrigan turns her head to smile at me, "Tis interesting to find you here Brother. I had not thought to see you again at all, let alone save you from being killed and eaten at our camp for lunch." I shiver at the thought and she laughs as she walks us through the woods and into camp.

* * *

_Holy Creators... well, I found them._

I shuffle anxiously on Morrigan's shoulder, my head still hurting from Leliana's arrow.

_I'm lucky it didn't impale itself in my head! Oh goodness my heart stopped back there when I say my death approaching. I definitely owe Morrigan one._

The tree-line opens up to a small clearing. Tents surrounding a campfire, a cart where two dwarves stood patiently near their own smaller tent, Morrigan's own camp set on the far side of the clearing, her tent tied around a tree and a small pile of books sitting off to the side. I spot a massive person standing stoically by himself and nod to Sten as Morrigan walks by, he raises an eyebrow slightly in surprise that a bird was addressing him before going stoic again. I look around more closely and see that Alistair was working with Leliana on a black kettle that sat at the edge of the main fire.

_Oh man, I hope Alistair's cooking isn't as terrible as it's portrayed. I might just have to take over all meals just to make them edible if it is._

I spot a Mabari gnawing on what looks like a large bone, of what I don't know, but it's possibly from a bear by the size. Morrigan sits down on the ground and I hop off to stretch out my wings to shake off the rest of my sleep before sitting down next to her. A tent flap opens up and a female elf with brown hair walks o-

…

_Oh... fuck._

I swallow as my stress levels sky-rocket at seeing the one face I thought I'd never see again.

"Erianne, Morrigan is hording our meal!" Alistair whines.

She sighs and looks at Morrigan and then at me in surprise. I wave a wing at her and her eyes widen, "Uh... hello to you to?" I lower my wing and nod. She looks back to Morrigan, waiting for an explanation as to why a bird just waved hello at her and is sitting politely next to their camp fire.

Morrigan just smiles and looks down at me with a look that said, 'Deal with your own problems for once!' I sigh internally before casting the reverse spell and shocking everyone by standing there, a strange-looking elven mage in revealing armor.

"Holy Andraste!" Leliana jump up in shock and grabs her bow but Erianne stops her and Alistair from doing anything rash.

"Hello, stranger. I can see you are a shapeshifter and a mage. I want to know why you have infiltrated my camp." Erianne demands bluntly.

_Oh damn... she's gotten strong in these last few years._

I nod and lower my hood, Erianne gasps as she looks at me in shock, "I'm here to keep a promise I made years ago." Morrigan looks between us before frowning. Leliana and Alistair are split between attacking me and bombarding me with questions. I step forwards and up to Erianne as she stares at me in shock, her hands curled into fists at her sides, "I'm here to help the Warden stop the Blight, although I never thought I'd meet you again Erianne, how's life treated you?" I watch her as her eyes pour out her emotions. Rage, anger, fury, passion, betrayal, happiness, curiosity, and a few others I don't understand. I choose to elaborate, "I was taken by-"

*CRACK!*

I stare up at the sky as my mind registers that she had punched me. "Tie this piece of trash up!" I hear her shout as I wince at the slight concussion she gave me. Morrigan looks down at me with a conflicted look in her eyes before waving her hand, I feel sleep close in around me and I wonder if I made a mistake helping Erianne all those years ago...

* * *

A/N Another relatively descent chapter.

One question for you all; what do you find interesting about this story so far? I like to gather as much feedback as possible from my audience. :)


	10. Broken Circle Part One

A/N College is becoming a hassle lately so expect a lot of irregularity in when I post a chapter. But none the less I WILL continue to post and update this story. Scorpio's Legacy is still a 'maybe' that I'll be done with it by 2015 so for those of you who read it, have patience. There's only a dozen chapters left in book one.

Anyways, lets get back to the story!

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

_I'm tied to a tree, I'm alone and tied to a tree._

I sigh as I glare at the blindfold covering my eyes to see if I could simply burn it away with my mind, of course it doesn't work and I'm stuck with relative darkness and the animals roaming by without a care as my only companions. Erianne decided to leave me for the darkspawn, much at the behest of ALL her companions. Even Sten vouched for my release, having been a prisoner himself before and not enjoying it even if the Qun demanded him to do so. Leliana threatened to leave and only after Erianne convinced her she didn't have anything left to go back to since Lothering was destroyed did Leliana stay silent, severely pissed, but silent. Alistair and Morrigan had a verbal debate while tying me up on how powerful I am magically. Thankfully Morrigan refused to tell him and he simply binded my hands with a special trick the templar's use to block magic. I pull at the restraints even a little bit and they tighten even further.

_Sadistic bastards. Templar's always coddle what they can't control, even in my home universe._

They didn't gag me for some reason, so when Erianne was going to try and torture me I simply argued that she had become exactly like Owen. She slapped me tearfully for two minutes straight before Leliana and Alistair pulled her off of me. I never shouted, never responded after that. Not until I heard Bodahn and Sandal moving by. "This was because I was kidnapped the night Erianne and I slept together and she blames me for it."

I hear them stop instantly and I hope for a moment or two that they were going to help me. "I'm sorry messere, but my son and I can't help you. We don't agree with it at all, but we need to make a living. Again I'm sorry." Then they were gone.

_It's been about eight hours since then I think._

I sigh and relax my hands before slowly pulling a finger out of my restraints to touch the iron locking knot of the bindings and whisper the incantation. It takes ten minutes for me to slowly cut through the iron lock knot and rip off my blindfold. "Oh..." I rub my bruised wrists and heal them before looking up and finding my stuff hanging from the tree. I flash into bird form and fly up to cut each of the items down, mumbling how crazy Erianne has become over the years as I go.

"And now I can't believe I ever helped her." I mumble as I see that I'm stuck in the middle of a forest with no way of knowing where to go to get out. I fly up to the treetops and circle the area to see that I don't recognize anything, not one damn thing. I glide down to the abandoned campsite and flash into my wolf form to sniff any and all the scents in the area. I find nothing and nearly give up until I smell blood and look around to find that I was dripping blood as they transported me here. I follow the small trail south, nearly over the whole 'save the universe' thing before I find a bread crumb. An actual bread crumb with Sandal's scent all over it.

_That clever little boy._

I lick it up and follow the trail west, then north east until it ends at a stream. I growl out in anger before flying over and sniffing the other side for anything, anything at all. I find a flower, just sitting there, a little white flower, an Andraste's Grace.

_Dear sweet Leliana and her vices._

I sniff it like there's no tomorrow and hunt around for the source before finding a cut down bush of them near a smaller creek a mile further north.

_Gods above Erianne was determined to lose me._

I sniff the area and howl out as I find Leliana's faint scent, maybe six hours old now. They were close.

I follow it through the forest, across a few plains, and down a road until it stops at another clearing just as the sun is about to set. I poke my head out of the tree-line and spot their camp, nearly the same as it was in the other clearing, only Leliana and Alistair's tents were parked further away from Erianne's.

_Got you._

I close my wolf eyes and focus in on their conversations. "-just saying it's a bit overdone!"

"Alistair, I really doubt that I overcooked the rabbit. Your definition of 'cooked' is either charred or raw so please just hand me the leeks." Leliana replies with a smile.

Alistair mumbles something a moment later that I can't pick up and Leliana responds with, "I don't know. I feel terrible just leaving him there defenseless! It's worse than killing him!"

Alistair scoffs, "By the way she said it he sounds like a cold blooded murderer. He can rot for all I care."

Leliana gasps, "Alistair! He wasn't hostile at all! He was kind and they seemed to know each other! I think Erianne is bias in her opinion."

Alistair groans, "We've been talking about this all day! What do you want us to do? Go back there, untie him and say, 'Oh we're sorry for knocking you out and leaving you in the middle of nowhere tied to a tree to be eaten by wolves, but can you tell us what went on between you and Erianne because we're _really_ curious.'" He states sarcastically.

"Tis interesting that none of you have asked me how I know him." I open my eyes and see Morrigan walking over.

"Oh great, what do you want?" Alistair mumbles lowly.

Leliana raises an eyebrow, "Morrigan? How _did_ you two know each other? You said he was a friend in the forest." Leliana asks, ignoring Alistair in favor of getting to the bottom of their leader's outburst.

Morrigan sits down and sighs as she stares longingly into the embers lightly dancing around the campfire, "Tis a tiresome story, though the short explanation is that he is my brother."

Alistair does a spit-take from his tasting of the stew and nearly hits the two of them as he gags, "He was what now?!" he exclaims in disbelief.

She scowls at him, "He is my brother, not by blood, but a few years back Flemeth took him from a clearing near Lothering to train him in ancient magics I cannot even understand. He molded into the hut naturally and I came to call him my brother over time."

They stare at her in shock and I use their distraction to sneak further into camp, hiding behind Leliana's tent to listen. "Wow... so that's why you were so protective of him. Oh I feel so embarrassed! I nearly killed your brother!" Leliana pauses before sounding horrified, "Oh by the Maker! We left your brother tied to a tree in the forest!"

Alistair audible gulps. "Oh Maker."

Morrigan laughs as she waves their concern off like usual, "Tis impossible for him to die from such simple means! Mother taught us well, including how to break hold from a templar's bindings."

Alistair chokes on his drink by the sound of it, "What?! Why didn't you tell me that?!"

Morrigan scoffs, "As if I'm going to betray my own brother for the trust of a simple fool like yourself." She stands, "Tis all I am willing to speak of. Twas not his fault that he abandoned our fearless leader in that clearing. Mother made sure he couldn't find her until she was already gone." She walks away and I stifle a whimper as I now understand my relationship with Morrigan.

_Brother and sister, trust for trust, life for life. For the first time in a while I'm proud to be her adopted brother._

"Wow, I never thought I'd say this, but Morrigan was right." Alistair breaths. "Erianne's bias leadership caused us to take an innocent man prisoner!" He sighs and sounds like he's running his hand over his face, "Ok, the next time we see him, if we do see him, I'm apologizing and hearing him out. This is becoming ridiculous. I mean we took eight hours creating a false trail away from our new campsite just to be sure he couldn't track us! Who does that to a stranger you've never even met?!"

"I'm sure he's alright Alistair. I wouldn't be surprised if we find him wandering into camp before morning." Leliana comments in her usually optimistic fashion.

I smile and step out from behind her tent. I approach from Leliana's back, although I never expected Alistair to see me instantly, "AH!" He jumps up and grabs his sword as Leliana and everyone else in camp turn to me or run over to see what was going on.

I flash into my elvish form and block his attack with my staff, "Alistair! Calm down you skittish bastard!" He freezes as he recognizes me and backs off.

"You- How the-? Why... Wha- what is-?" He stutters.

Leliana cuts him off by hugging me. my muscles clench tightly from the unfamiliar physical contact. "Oh I'm so sorry! We didn't know anything about you and-"

I cut her off, "I'm alright." I push her back gently and take the Andraste's Grace flower out of my pack. "Thanks for the trail." She takes the flower and stares at me in surprise.

Morrigan laughs, "Oh how marvelous! Tis most amusing to see Alistair jump ten feet into the air at the sight of a lone wolf!" She laughs again. "Tis also interesting to see you again brother. I hope you made it here without much trouble?" I simple nod to her.

"What the Maker is going on out he-?!" Erianne steps out of her tent and freezes in shock as she sees me again, "You- How?" She breathes in disbelief and anger.

I shrug and cross my arms, "It takes a lot more than that to lose your trail Erianne, especially since I already knew where you'd be heading." She goes to yell and I cut her off, "NO! You had your chance to speak and you knocked me out! I'm here to help you defeat the Blight! I'm not here to be attacked for something I didn't even have control over!" I watch as her anger starts to boil but I stop her, "Flemeth kidnapped me you idiot! I didn't have a choice if I wanted to stay or not, and by the time she gave me a map of the wilds to get back to Lothering you were already long-gone!"

She glares at me angrily.

"Tis true. Darien was taken by mother a few years ago and trained him in ancient magic while refusing him the ability to meet up with you again if he even wished to do so." Morrigan states plainly.

Erianne shakes her head and opens her mouth only to be cut off again as Leliana steps forward, "I am not casting this poor soul out again, not after I let you convince me I was punishing a terrible man who turned out to not be at fault!" She states passionately.

"Punishment without reason is not justice." Sten comments bluntly.

Erianne looks at Alistair for help but he shakes his head. "I hate to admit it but Morrigan is right. This man has done nothing wrong... yet." My support frowns at him, except Sten who was already frowning. "The Grey Wardens can't turn away allies simply because of personal bias." Erianne cringes as the logic finally sets in.

She lowers her head in defeat, she'd lose all her collected support if she turned her back on me now and she knew it. "Fine." She bites out. "He can stay, but I'm not trusting him until I have reason to!" She turns and stomps back into her tent before turning back and shouting, "And you owe me one Alistair!" She whips the flap shut.

I shake my head and sigh, "I used to pity her, I helped her be free of a terrible life and this is how she repays me?" I turn to the group, "Thank you for all your support, and for not killing me by following leadership blindly." I smirk at them and bow respectfully, "I am Darien, rogue mage, shapeshifter, and a slightly renowned cook."

Alistair groans, "Oh great, now there's two Morrigan's?"

Leliana ignores him and holds out her hand which I take happily, "Hello Darien, my name is Leliana, a former Lay-Sister at the Lothering Chanty. The rude ex-templar is Alistair." I nod to him. "Sten is the tall stoic one." I incline my head to him in respect as his multi-hued eyes burned into my skull. "And you already know Morrigan. Bodahn and Sandal are the two dwarves running their merchant cart in the corner of camp. They like to tag along to keep us supplied with goods. You can find some camping supplies with them later."

I smile warmly to them all, finally content to see this Blight out with a group, "Greetings to you all. Tis interesting seeing such an array of different peoples working to end the Blight, although I suppose that's a given in these times of crisis. I hope to fight along side you all soon enough."

* * *

Everyone gives me a small list of basic things I should know about each of them over the next half hour and I'm not surprised that I already know everything they tell me.

_Another benefit of knowing the game. Not the Orlesian one, Dragon age, but I did enjoy The Masked Empire quite a bit. How anyone can live only to play the game is just insane... and that rhymed. _

Finally I get some camping supplies from Bodahn who was happy to help and manage to set up a small five by seven foot tent just as the rabbit stew Leliana made with Alistair was ready. We all sit down to eat, even Morrigan, Bodahn, and Sandal came over as I talked about how I tracked them down. Even Erianne was surprised by the lengths I went to find them. "Nah, tis simple instinct when you're a wolf." I state modestly. Morrigan laughed at it.

Leliana then went into story-mode and told us a tale about Flemeth, which Morrigan and I interrupted constantly to clarify what we were told by Flemeth about the story, which annoyed Leliana I think.

After supper we all went to our separate tents and I laid down on my cot, just thinking about how much I've had to deal with to get to this point.

_It's seriously starting to wear on my mind, although I'll have to stay strong if memory and reality stays parallel. The Tower is going to be hell._

I fall asleep, knowing I'd definitely study the different demon classes all night just to prepare for the hell ahead.

* * *

Apparently we camped about a mile away from Lake Calenhad so after a short jog our party of Erianne, Leliana, Alistair, Morrigan, and myself arrived through the ruins of the Highway that used to run directly across the lake to the Tower of Magi. Sten, the Mabari, Bodahn and Sandal all stayed behind to keep the camp running. Much to Sten's own annoyance.

_Qunari are surprisingly very impatient people apparently._

"We're going to see the tower? Oh great, mages just _love_ me." Alistair states to no-one in particular as we approach the docks. I look up at the just barely brightening sky of dawn and stare in awe at the massive tower sitting so perfectly near the water's edge on an island barely even larger than the first floor's walls.

_If I remember correctly a templar holds us back-_

"You! You're not looking to get across to the tower are you? Because I have strict orders not to let _anyone_ pass!" The annoying templar states before we even get close.

_Ah... there you are. Carrol I think his name is..._

Erianne, as the leader of the group, folds her arms and speaks, "I am a Grey Warden and I seek the assistance of the mages."

Carrol raises an eyebrow suspiciously, "Oh, you're a Grey Warden, are you? Prove it."

Erianne blinks slowly, "Prove it?"

"Kill some darkspawn. Come on. Let's see some righteous Grey Wardening." He mocks.

I decide to stay out of it to just let Erianne stay in the leader role for now, until she does something stupid like try to kill the mages for templar support or something else equally as bad just to piss me off.

Erianne plays along and looks left and right, "There aren't any darkspawn here."

Carrol seems to take it half-hearted, "That's good, I suppose. Wouldn't want darkspawn smeared across the landscape. I hear their blood is black. Is that true? You'd know if you were a Grey Warden."

_And he's back to mocking. Wonderful! Tis a rarity truly!_

Morrigan and I share a scoff of annoyance from the back of the group as the conversation progresses.

"It's not black, but it burns you when it touches you." Erianne seems a bit agitated now, but still patient which is a bit shocking.

Carrol winces, "Oh, pleasant, eh? Good thing I don't have to kill them then. Anyways, it was nice chatting with you. Now on your way. Right now. Go." He waves his plated hand dismissively, nearly slapping Erianne on the nose from how close he got.

_Well that was rude... and suicidal._

Erianne sighs, "Your superior won't like that you've given me trouble."

This worries Carrol, "Oh, really? You think Greagoir would be upset with me for not letting you in? Wait... actually, he would. Good point." He says in defeat.

Erianne smirks, "Well, we should try our best to avoid that, shouldn't we?"

Carrol turns to grab onto the small boat, "He's the big guy around here... I bet he could deal with one Grey Warden." He pauses for a moment to add, "_Alleged_ Grey Warden."

"And I bet I could throw you overboard and you'd sink like a rock." Erianne deadpans.

Carrol stares at her in shock as we board the small ferry and get comfortable. He sighs and unties the boat before hopping in and mumbling something about how he didn't get paid enough for this.

I look down and admire the dark water and how it seems to absorb the morning sunlight before looking up and swallowing in intimidation at the size of the tower as we dock. We get out and Carrol ties down the boat before crossing his arms and staying clear of Erianne as she pushes the front doors open with the help of Alistair.

"...and I want two men stationed within sight of the doors at all times. Do not open the doors without my-"

"Holy freaking Andraste's fluffy bed sweaters!" I stagger forwards at the overwhelming energy pulse that hits me.

"What's wrong?" Leliana asks worriedly from my right.

I stand back up and shake my head to feel the energy not dissipating, it was strong and that alone worried me. "I can feel the Veil here. Tis cracked substantially. Something must have happened." I look around worriedly at the walls and feel the slips of Fade energy drop in and out of existence around me.

Erianne frowns and looks to Greagoir, "What's going on here?"

He sighs, "I don't have time to entertain visitors-"

I cut him off impulsively, "Why is the Veil sundered here?" I ask forcefully.

He frowns and looks at me strangely, "Who are you? How can you tell?"

I blink and bite my lower lip, "My name is Darien and I'm... sensitive to fade energy." I break eye contact to avoid his piercing gaze.

"Hmm... perhaps." He watches me suspiciously before turning back to Erianne. "Now, we're dealing with a situation that doesn't concern you."

Erianne folds her hands behind her back respectfully, "As a Grey Warden, I have a right to know what's happening."

Greagoir rubs his forehead, muttering something about Grey Wardens needing recruits constantly, "I shall speak plainly: The tower is no longer under our control."

I scoff and everyone looks at me, "At the very least! Unless you templars LIKE demons and abominations stalking the halls!"

He frowns at me, "How do you know this?"

"It's painfully obvious that the air itself is saturated with darkness. How you aren't able to detect it shows your weakness." I state plainly.

He shakes his head sadly, "We were too complacent. First Jowan and Solona, now this."

_Wait... Solona? As in Solona Amell?! Wh-?_

"What has become of the First Enchanter?" I ask out of necessity, only he would know what happened to Solona, the default Human female mage from the game.

Greagoir shakes his head, "We don't know. We saw only demons, hunting templars and mages alike. I realized we could not defeat them and told my men to flee."

Morrigan tsks. "For all your bluster, you templars are simply cowards."

"We were taken by surprise." Greagoir refutes.

I shake my head, "That is no excuse, have some backbone!"

Erianne glares at me, "Darien!" I shut up angrily. She turns back to Greagoir, "I'm sorry for my companion's... rudeness. We have been quite stressed with the Blight and all. What is your plan?

Morrigan folds her arms, "This should be interesting."

Greagoir frowns with determined fury, "I would destroy the tower, raze it to the ground, but I cannot risk more of my men. The doors remain shut until we receive word from Denerim."

I shake my head, "Fuck my life." Everyone looks at me in confusion from my strange statement, "You really sent for the annulment? You weak-willed fool..."

"What's the annulment?" Erianne asks curiously.

I cross my arms as I glare at Greagoir, "A piece of parchment that allows the slaughtering of innocent and guilty alike inside a circle tower. Good thing there's a civil war or we would have came too late to stop it."

Alistair speaks up, "The mages are probably already dead." He says sadly.

I frown at him and close my eyes for a second, using a passive magical sense to find any other mages in the area. I see them down the hall and open my eyes, "They are not, I sense their power, everything down the first corridor is empty besides innocents and children."

Erianne instantly glares at Greagoir who looks surprised by this news, "You left children there?!"

"We couldn't be certain-"

I cut him off, "No of course not! Why would a templar be sensible?!"

Erianne agrees, "We are rescuing the tower, with your permission or no." She growls out forcefully.

_Oh man, she is about to explode on his templar ass... _

_... _

_Ok, that was a terible choice of words on my part, ew._

Greagoir sighs, "Without word from Denerim I must decide our course of action. I will allow your attempt, but the doors remain shut after you enter unless the First Enchanter himself tells me otherwise."

We walk over to the large doors that lead into the apprentice quarters.

Erianne turns to Alistair, "Alistair, do the templars do this a lot?"

He looks back thoughtfully as four templars push on the heavy metallic door to just budge it from it's sealed position, "As I recall, shutting the door and throwing away the key was definitely plan B. Normally they don't have a total crisis like the Blight or civil war to deal with at the same time."

She looks to me next, all business. "Darien what can you sense?"

I close my eyes and wince before opening them again, "Death, darkness, and a lot of blood. Too much for many to still live. Expect horrific sights."

She nods worriedly while thinking about what to do, "Alright, Alistair, Darien and Leliana, you three are with me. Morrigan I need you to hold off the templars until we can rescue the First Enchanter."

Morrigan frowns in annoyance but simply nods as she turns back to watch the struggling templar's with apprehension. Erianne turns to watch the templars as Morrigan grabs me by the arm and pulls me aside, "I have a thought." She whispers in my ear softly.

I smirk, "Just the one?" I whisper back.

"Ah, such wit. Truly, you and mother should form a troupe of jesters and tour the countryside." She laughs at her own sarcasm, "We have an opprotunity that I believe we should take advantage of."

I smile, "Mother's Grimoire, I remember her rants."

She smiles back, "Yes, I was wondering if you still remembered your years spent with us."

I raise an eyebrow, "How could I forget?" I shiver, "The taste of mother's wood-rot stew still haunts my dreams."

She grimaces, "Don't remind me. Surly mother's secrets would serve us better than a tower of frale and corralled mages would they not?"

I smile, "T'would be best if they were 'liberated'."

"Darien! We're entering!" I turn and run back over to join up with Erianne and the group. "What was all that about?" She asks. I ignore her as we walk throughout the halls, checking everywhere for survivors or demons. We come up to a door and Erianne pushes it open.

I scan the crowd as Wynne walks up to greet us.

_No, no-one here would have known what happened to Solona._

"You? Why are you here? Why did the templars let you through?" She stands defensively, "Are you here to warn us? Are the templars attacking?"

I go to respond, "We are-" When a flash of spirit energy rushes into me from her direction. I blink at the surprising feeling, "What- what are you? I... I can sense-"

Wynne frowns, "And who are you? I can see you are a mage, but more as well."

Erianne looks over at me, "He's... _special_." I cringe at how she said it, like I was mentally disabled. "The templars are waiting for the Rite of Annulment."

Wynne lowers her head sadly, "They sent for it, then. I feared they might have. What else could they do?"

I frown, "With proper training they could have made a push to test the strength of the demons, and find survivors as well for rescue."

Wynne looks at me like a mother does to a misbehaving child, "And risk their lives for our safety?"

I gape at her, "That's why they're here for for the Creators sakes!"

Erianne stops us from continuing the debate, "We are not here to discuss what _could_ have been done!"

Wynne starts pacing with her worlds, "They abandoned us to our fate, but even trapped as we are, we have survived. If they invoke the Rite, however, we will not be able to stand against them."

"If they invoke the Rite I'll slaughter every last one of them." I growl out furiously.

Wynne smirks, "Hah! One mage up against over eight dozen templars?"

I fold my arms confidently, "I am no mere mage. I trained to withstand a hundred foes at once if I must. Tis what you do to survive in the wilds."

Erianne shakes her head at us, "We waste time! We must save this circle from ruin. Greagoir will only let us out if the First Enchanter survived."

I scoff and mutter under my breath, "Let them just try to keep Morrigan and I from leaving, they'd die quicker than they can call upon the Maker to save them."

Wynne nods impatiently, "If anyone could survive this, it would be Irving. It was he who told me to look after the children. It's... a long story." She turns to point at the shimmering wall of power that was her barrier, "I erected a barrier over the door leading to the rest of the tower, so nothing from inside could attack the children."

"Dispel it, join us and we will save the circle." I state bluntly, losing my own patience. Erianne nods in agreement.

"Petra, Kinnon... look after the others. I will be back soon." Wynne speaks to the two mages on either side of her.

Petra looks worried, "Wynne... are you sure you are all right? You were so badly hurt earlier. Maybe I should come along."

"The other's need your protection more. I will be all right. Stay here with them... keep them safe and calm." Wynne retorts calmly.

Erianne nods, "Let us be off. We have talked away enough time."

We all walk up to the barrier and I'm just done by this point.

_Who talks for five minutes about saving the children?_

"Here we-"

I cut her off by dispelling her barrier through shear force alone, "We must not dally." I move ahead, arming myself with my staff and readying for what fresh hell this tower has in store for me.

Alistair stacks up with me at the doorway leading to the library. I nod to him and he rushes in with Erianne and Leliana firing arrows from a distance. I find my first target and stop only for a moment to see the horrifying mesh of flesh and blood blended into a literal abomination. I throw down a cone of cold as two more round the corner to attack us. Alistair shatters one while the other two are taken down by shattering arrows via Erianne and Leliana. I shake my head at the dead sacks of flesh before moving on, now worried for Irving even more so.

_This is reality, nothing is a game anymore, I have to remember that._

We are able to easily slaughter the weaker abominations and rage demons that guarded the library before making it to the second floor. I swallow uneasily as the Veil is even thinner here than before.

_Uldred, or the demon possessing Uldred for that matter, must be extremely powerful to be able to rally enough demons to do this within a week!_

I breath in the fade energy to bolster my own mana and soul, "Ahhh... I can feel the power in the air..."

_If I was bonded with a spirit I could have replenished it with this energy it's so plentiful._

"I am quite pleased with the increase of fade energy here." I raise my hand and silently cast a spell-weave that sows the Veil together to lessen any spilling of fade energy in the immediate area and thwart the strength of demons around us.

Wynne is naturally surprised since she's the only one who can feel it, "You- you are controlling the Fade? But you are-"

"Please, refrain from going into the stockroom. It is a mess and I have not been able to get it into a state fit to be seen." I shiver at the blank mono-toned coldness Owain's voice holds.

_Ok, time to test out a theory._

I step up and grab Owain by the head, pressing a palm into the mark on his forehead and forcing fade energy to rip into his mind. His eyes widen in shock, "Wha-? How did you- Oh Maker." He smiles. "I'm finally free!" He shouts in happiness.

I shake my head, "I'm sorry, but this is only temporary you have only a few moments."

He looks sad, happy, but sad from his freedom.

"Owain? What has he done to you?!" Wynne glares at me.

"He has given me back my connection to the Fade! Oh it's so terrible, having every single emotion drained from your mind. It's torture Wynne! The templar's are monsters for using it!" Owain shouts with his new emotions and quite powerful voice.

I refocus us, "Owain? What were you doing here?"

He frowns in thought, "I- I was trying to tidy up. I tried to leave but someone left a barrier at the door out of the apprentice chambers. I couldn't find a way past so I went back here." His voice turns to a growl, "To return to work for the _templars_."

Wynne is shocked, "Owain? You hate the templars? Why? They have protected us for so long. I thought you wanted to be made Tranquil. I distinctively remember you fearing your Harrowing."

Owain looks conflicted, "I know, but now I wish I died attempting it! You don't know how horrible it is! All the color gone from the world! Every single thought blocked except the duty to serve our captors!" He tears up and I pat him on the back. "Thanks. I'm sorry, I am not myself right now."

I nod in understanding and so does Erianne as she finally breaks out of her shock. Leliana and Alistair are still staring at Owain, lost for words.

"Don't worry so much Owain your still alive." Wynne tries to comfort him.

His anger flares, "I wish I died! There is no life in being forced into the Rite!"

Wynne frowns, "No-one forced you Owain, you cho-"

He cuts her off, "NO! No I didn't! I chose to do my Harrowing but Greagoir refused! He said that a weak minded mage as myself only deserved to serve!" He shouts furiously. Wynne stares at him in shock and horror. I stare at Owain in surprise.

_Damn this guy is animated when out of tranquility!_

I push us back on track, "Do you know what happened here?" I ask softly.

He shakes his head, "No, all I know is that Niall came by to get the Litany of Adralla with a few other mages before they left to go further up I think."

I nod, "To protect against mind domination, or blood magic. I remember it."

_Flemeth taught me well, so well in fact that she actually had me memorize the Litany of Adralla since she had a copy, or the original, or something akin to it, in the hut._

Wynne seems saddened greatly, "Niall would know, he was in the meeting. Blood magic... I was afraid of this."

"I wasn't afraid of any of it because I lost my soul!" Owain exclaims in a failed pity joke. I pat him on the back as he tears up again.

_Poor guy._

Erianne sighs, "Great, now what are we going to do?"

I leave Owain to mope over his terrible existence in the corner and speak up, "I have it memorized." Everyone stares at me. "What? Flemeth taught me well, and I did some studying on my own when I left so... yeah. We don't need it."

Wynne looks at me suspiciously, "I would ask you how do you know of it's existence?"

I frown at her deeper, "I memorized a copy of it, or the original, or some rendition of it, during intense combat once a week. I'm surprised the templars don't know it by heart. Its actually really simple."

They stare at me for a moment more before Owain jumps up and yells out, "AH! It's fading!" He falls to his hands and knees and begs at our feet, "Please by the Maker kill me and end my torment! Please! Ple-" I slice his throat and his body hits the floor to echo across the walls in silence. He mouths 'thank you' before dying in a pool of his own blood. I see everyone staring at me in absolute shock in the silence.

I close my eyes to speak, _"Hahren na malana sahlin emma ir abelas souver'inan isala hamin vhenan him dor'felas in uthenera na revas..."_

_Goodbye Owain. I hope you find your peace in the afterlife..._

* * *

A/N And unfortunately a minor character dies... It always bugged me how the templars and mages preached the usage of slaves, oh I mean Tranquil as necessary to maintain peace in the Towers. The next chapter is coming tomorrow so I can catch up, again.

Also, I realized that to be able to tie in Dragon Age Inquisition to this story in January 2015 I literally need to post five chapters a week until the end of December. So... I'm going to try to do that. Lets see how long I can last :) Don't worry about the quality dropping, I always make sure the plot makes sense before posting the chapter, or at least makes ENOUGH sense that the main parts can easily be translated... and again I ramble. :) Overall, expect me to Maybe post chapters during weekdays and not on weekends in the near future. If it works out alright then everyone will win! If it doesn't then it'll stay at two to three a week and Dragon Age Inquisition won't be written until late February 2015.

One update for everyone, I'm starting a poll to see who Darien could or should romance during both DA:O and DA:II so go to my page and cast your votes! :)


	11. Broken Circle Part Two

A/N And I actually got this out on time O_O Really a surprise on my part.

Anyways, Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

_My cheek still stings from Wynne's bitch-slap._

I rub the sore spot and sigh as Erianne giggles in the background. "Lets move on."

_I've really got to filter what I say around these people, that hurt!_

We walk into the next room, hearing the mutterings of blood mages as they argue about how their going to survive the horror. I step forward and lean against the column nearest to them casually, "Anyone have a light?" I flash a palm of green fade flames and let the three blood mages turn and stare in shock. The first dies with an arrow in his chest. I throw the flame into the next and he burns to death just as I whip my staff around and freeze the last in a wall of spiked ice. She whimpers as we all approach to interrogate her.

"Tell me why I should spare your life?" I ask lazily.

"I know I have no right to ask for mercy, but I didn't mean for this death and destruction. We were just trying to free ourselves." She begs desperately. I roll my eyes. "Uldred told us that the circle would support Loghain and Loghain would help us be free of the Chantry. Wynne, you know what it was like living here. The templars watching, always watching."

I sigh, "A gilded cage, nothing more, nothing less. At least you survived. You chose to turn to forbidden magic, however, a dangerous path." I comment calmly.

She tears up, "The magic was a means to an end. It gave us... it gave me the power to fight for what I believed."

I frown sadly, drawing the connection between her use of blood magic and my own.

_Yes, it's a means to an end. Hopefully I can limit the damage I cause when it blows up in my face._

I feel faint suddenly, a strange buzzing in the back of my head. I try to remember what it reminds me of but my memory is fuzzy.

_This is bad, I'm never fuzzy._

"Fighting for what you believe is commendable, but the ends do not always justify the means." Wynne nearly yells in angry.

I quickly become annoyed and sigh in anger, "Even in your old age you still do not understand." I turn to glare at Wynne. "What would you do if you could save millions by killing off an entire race? Could you do it? Would you make that choice?" I step up to snarl in her face, my anger flaring for some odd reason. "What would you do if someone forced you to kill your own child to save an entire nation! What! What do you do?!" She stares in shock at my ferocity as everyone watches us in silence. "You are a fool if you think the ends will always justify the means, but somethings the world must burn to save it." I let my anger set my insides on fire as I stomp away from them, bent of spending my fury on the demons rather than kill an ally.

* * *

Flashes of death, abominations, demons, others as well until I kick open the cabinet that holds Godwin and yell, "Move! We cleared the lower floors. Tis safer down below!"

"Darien stop!" I freeze and my vision blurs, something hurts but I don't know what. I turn to see Erianne staring at me angrily.

"I'm sorry, tis difficult living in multiple times, almost unbearable." I state plainly, nearly against my will.

She raises an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

I smile and step forwards to whisper in her ear, "Time. Time shifts in the Fade." I back away as she stares in shock. I know what does not exist." I turn away. "Unfortunately I have to change that soon. Now come, Irving must be saved..." I pause as Pause gives me pause. "...and Pause is waiting."

"What a strange elf." I hear her say behind me and I know something is wrong.

* * *

A strange feeling fills me as I pass by demons as they bow in respect to me. I enter the room where the Sloth demon is in-game I blink as I see Pause standing there over Sloth's body, I know it's Pause even though he looks like my father. "Pause?" I wince as a blast of energy hits me and I barely resist. "There's a problem."

He turns around and nods, "I know, now wake up! Sloth is still alive!"

* * *

I groan as I wake up to stare at the green Fade sky above, "Oh great, I'm in the Fade... again." A flash of thought tells me that the bitch blood mage I trapped in ice somehow found out a way to trick me into releasing her and allowing her to come with us. She fought with us and we succeeded up until Sloth, then she betrayed us by allowing Sloth to use my connection to the Fade as a catalyst to pull everyone into his realm.

_The selfish bastard._

I step forward and ignore the simple tricks around me as I approach a Fade portal, "Lets see what we can do here." I close my eyes and touch the deactivated rift of fade energy, pulling as much will into it as possible and whispering a spell Flemeth taught me on how to control large quantities of fade magic. I refocus it with a mental image of Sloth's main base from the game and with one final punch of fade energy it starts up. I smirk at my success before stepping through.

* * *

_Oh... well, ok._

I look around and see that I'm actually in a forest of some kind, another illusion. I sigh and walk through the area, careful not to touch anything so Sloth isn't alerted to my presence.

"Oh Erianne..." I freeze as I enter a small clearing and see myself, or at least a very good copy, making love to Erianne by the campfire from two and a half years ago.

"Darien!" I cringe as I feel the broken emotions from years of contempt clouding her mind.

I shake my head and flash a dispel across the area, breaking the illusion. "ENOUGH!" I shout angrily.

_How dare these demons trick her even further!_

The entire forest and area falls away to the Fade once again. I look down at Erianne as she lays shaking on the ground from shock. She stands up and turns to gasp at me before disappearing all together, just like in the game. "Oh, well that's just sodding great."

I turn back and re-align the portal to avoid any more useless detours.

* * *

"Ahh, here is the struggling dreamer." Sloth states while in his Arcane Horror form, slowly stepping up to me as I fold my arms and stand defiant. "I nearly had you, had a dreamer captured and subdued, but that pesky little demon interfered."

I end it, "No more talk Sloth! You must die!" I raise a hand and the entire area shifts and cracks to release the infinite fade energy the land itself is made out of.

"Wha- What are you doing?!" Sloth staggers back as I bend the swirling vortex around him.

"I'm ending this!" The vortex implodes, tearing the field apart and setting it aflame with fade energy as the tears and cracks slowly heal themselves around me. The smoke and dust clears to reveal Sloth panting pathetically as he struggles to stay on his knees. "Are you finished yet?" I growl out. "Sloth..."

He coughs out a mouthful of blood, "I cannot stand to your power." I kick him in the side, forcing him to the ground fully. He looks up at me blankly, "Will you wish to bargain for my life dreamer?" He says lazily, knowing what I'd say.

"No." I set him aflame with fade energy, he doesn't even scream before he dies.

_Tis done._

I turn only to be blinded by a flash of light. A person in mage robes walks up to me, "Wha-? Where am I?" Niall asks while I recover from being blinded. "You- you killed the demon. You are so much stronger than I-"

I cut him off, "I'm sorry but the tower needs to be rid of demons yet and you're going to die anyways so lets keep this short. What do you wish to be your final words Niall?"

He nods, "I see, yes. I wish for the circle to know of my sacrifice, but only to show I didn't die in vain for a worthless cause. Please tell them."

I smile sadly, "I will, goodbye." Everything turns to blinding energy as I return back to my physical body in the realm of mortals...

* * *

"Oh..." I sit up just as Sloth's body hits the floor. I stand and step over to take the Adralla as everyone else wakes up. "Leliana, take the Adralla. It's more effective in the hands of a bard than I. A good singing voice strengthens it's power." She blinks at me in surprise before taking it. Everyone sits up except Alistair. It takes him another minute before he wakes up.

"Ow, oh what in Andraste's name?" Alistair sits up to see everyone watching him worriedly. "Uh... hello?"

"What's your father's name?" I ask just to be sure.

_Demons are slippery._

He blinks, "Wha-?"

I stop him, "You either tell me the truth or die as a suspected demon." I draw my daggers. "Your choice."

He gulps, "M-My father was..." He bites his lip with uncertainty. "King Maric."

"WHAT?!"

"Holy Andraste!"

"That was unexpected."

"He's fine, a bit annoying but fine." I state plainly while turning towards the next door and last floor before Cullen. "Now let us be off lest the dust gather on us."

Everyone walks up to the door then through it.

* * *

I stagger back from the barely missed bite of another dragonling and freeze it solid before shattering it. "Dragons? Why in all of Thedas did the circle keep Dragons here?!" I shout as I engage another group of three.

"They were pets for those who wanted them." Wynne explains.

Literally everyone stops what their doing to stare at her in shock.

I scoff, "Just like usual, too incompetent to see what's actually wis- OW!" I wave my hand about before healing the searing bite mark and blasting the dragonling responsible into a wet stain on the floor. "Kill first, talk later!" I look over the crowd to gawk at two Drakes as they stomp up to us, their height dwarfing even Alistair, and he's six foot one! "Son of bitch!" I toss a fade fireball into the group before swearing as it barely damages them.

_Dragons, duh. Fireproof._

I internally slap myself at that horrible decision and switch to frost storm to slow them down and freeze some of them solid.

_Creators I hate dragons._

I slice my dagger into the roof of the Drake's mouth, piercing the brain as it's fire breath scorches my arm. I stab the other dagger into it's eye, killing it quicker. Both of us fall to the ground as Wynne rushes over to heal up my arm and scold me about heroics that I ignore.

_She's worse than my mother in my first life and my fifth girlfriend in my second. _

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, go heal up Erianne's side." I wave at where Erianne lays in a growing pool of blood and Wynne rushes over.

_She took a full bite to the side by the second Drake so Alistair could take it out via decapitation only to get pinned by the body as it rolled over._

"Can somebody help me up already?" Alistair asks tiredly, he stupidly struggled himself into nearly passing out before giving up.

I look over to where Leliana nurses a laceration on her leg and sigh.

_We seriously need A LOT more practice before taking on a High Dragon, or the Arch Demon, or Flemeth. God we kill a lot of dragons before the end don't we._

I get to my feet and step over to kneel down and start healing her laceration, "How are you doing?"

She winces, "Just- Ah! Fine, just- I'm alright." I shake my head at her stubbornness and finish up the heal. She sighs, "Thanks for that, the wound was burning for some reason."

I nod, "The natural oils and liquids from a Dragon or dragonling for that matter are extremely acidic and flammable. Which is ironic since their scales are extremely fire-" I remember the Drake armor and look at the two warm bodies covered in rare and tough scales. "-resistant..." I smile. "Leliana help me cut off some scales while Erianne recovers and Wynne gets Alistair ready to be pulled out."

She blinks at me, "Wha- Why?"

I take my dagger and carefully stick it in-between plates to slowly cut it off. "I know a guy that might make us some armor from these." I don't have to turn back to see Leliana's ecstatic smile as she jumps onto the dead Drake and starts cutting some scales off herself. I laugh at her eagerness before taking my first scale and setting it aside. We'd need maybe twenty per person to make a full set of armor. Maybe forty for Alistair and Sten each for a heavy armor variant.

_Drake Scale armor plus previously burned Leliana equals a happy fire resistant ex-bard. Simple arithmatic.  
_

* * *

Ten minutes later everyone had a full pack of scales and there were two stripped and rotting Drakes laying where they fell as we moved on.

_The moment of truth._

Erianne and I push open the last door, I turn the corner to stare in awe at the shimmering shield of arcane energy powered by the sundering of the Veil around it. "Holy shit..." I breath out appropriately.

"There's someone in there." Erianne whispers. We spill into the small room and step up to the barrier, myself still in awe at the complexity of the barrier.

"This trick again? I know what you are. It won't work. I will stay strong..." Cullen says miserably as he kneels to huddle on the ground in prayer desperately.

"Are you alright?" Erianne asks sadly.

Wynne speaks up, "The boy is exhausted. And this cage... I've never seen anything like it." She looks to Cullen, "Rest easy... help is here."

Cullen whimpers and cradles his head in his hands, "Enough visions. If anything in you is human... kill me now and stop this game." He shakes in fear and pent up anger.

"He's delirious. He's been tortured... and has possibly been denied food and water. I can tell." Leliana goes up to the barrier, "Here. I have a skin of-"

Cullen backs away, "Don't touch me! Stay away! Filthy blood mages... getting into my head... I will not break... I'd rather die."

Erianne folds her arms, "Don't be foolish we are not an illusion of your mind."

Cullen jumps up angrily, "Silence... I'll not listen to anything you say. Now begone!" Cullen's eyes widen as I roll mine, "Still here? But that's always worked before. I close my eyes, but you are still here when I open them." He looks on the verge of hysterically crying.

I sigh in annoyance, "I'm sick of this buffoon's incessant prattling!" I wave a pulse of fade energy into the barrier, overloading it. The cylinder shatters and Cullen passes out from the shock of finally being free.

"That was not necessary!" Wynne scolds.

I shake my head and sigh, "And still my headache persists. Tis most annoying." I rub my forehead to try and alleviate the sharp pounding.

Erianne leads us up the stairs to the Harrowing chamber after Wynne checks that Cullen's still breathing, he is.

"I swear he's worse than Morrigan. At least she never tore the Veil to kill a demon." Alistair whispers quietly. I feel Leliana nodding in agreement.

I look back, "T'would be best to not anger the powerful Fade mage who just cracked a Pride demon's prison without so much as a beat of sweat, yes?" They look away in embarrassment or fear, I can't tell right away. "And I don't tear the Veil, I temporarily sunder it to boost my magic's potency when it is required. Tis useful against demons, dragons, bandits, pretty much anything alive and dead." I look forwards again, silently grinding my teeth at the pure fade energy that seems to radiate from beyond the door.

_Something powerful did this. I hope I can defeat it. I hope we can defeat it._

Alistair, you and Leliana stay to the shadows near the doorway and enter after a few minutes, or when you hear any fighting." I raise an eyebrow at Erianne as she says this and she just winks.

_Oh you sly little elf..._

* * *

Pained and muffled screams of agony rip through the air just as easily as the lightning flies from Uldred's fingertips to torture the latest victim of his insanity. The demon lifts its hand up and raises the poor mage to the tips of his toes as he goes limp from complete physical and mental exhaustion. I watch in horror as Uldred whispers something in his ear and the mage nods. I step up to stop what's going to happen, to speak those words that I know in fact to undo blood magic and release the poor victim from dying for a demon's vanity, but I can't. I just watch as he falls to the ground and flashes of fade magic fly from Uldred's and two abomination's hands to be absorbed into the vessel like a sponge.

I look away and see the horror in my companion's faces as they witness something I've learned to perfect. Permanent possession.

_Flemeth said it was necessary some times to take what might die and make it unable to be destroyed for the betterment of the whole group. I disagreed but still studied, still learned the Ancient Tevinter dark rituals that allowed total control over someone's soul. I can't believe I agreed to study under her all that time._

"W-what's going on here?" Erianne exclaims in absolute horror as the now three fully grown abominations and Uldred turn to address us.

Uldred, the Pride demon, smiles wickedly, "Why, we're having a bit of fun!"

I sigh as I fold my arms, "Torture is fun, tis true, although I disagree with it in this instance. Tis unnecessary."

Uldred nods slowly, seemingly enjoying himself a bit too much.

I wonder if he was this demented before the demon arrived, or that the demon just brought it out into the open for everyone to see.

It smirks at me, "Oh... the mage that can control the Fade! I'm quite impressed you're still alive. Unfortunately, that must mean you killed my servants. Ah, well, they are probably better off dying in the service of their betters than living with the terrible responsibility of independence." I see Wynne cringe out of the corner of my eye as she hears her former colleague rant with more insanity than I thought possible.

I raise an eyebrow at him in false disbelief, "I'm sorry... are you upset I killed your pets?" I let a cocky smirk through to add to the sarcasm.

Uldred frowns and fights back a snarl, "We needn't fixate on who killed whom. That doesn't help our relationship."

I nod and smile wistfully, "Tis true, tell me then, what were you planning to accomplish with your means?"

Uldred smiles at my apparent ability to act civilized with a demon, "A mage is but a larval form of something greater. You're Chantry vilifies us, calls us abominations, when we have truly reached our full potential!" He touches the melded flesh of an abomination with admiration in his eyes before he licks the still pulsing and rotting stretched skin, everyone but Wynne and I gag instantly.

_That... was absolutely disgusting..._

I swallow hard, "My Chantry?"

Uldred turns to me and frowns with disdain, "Look at them." He waves a hand at a group of barely alive mages in the corner sitting on the most blood splattered tile of the room. "The Chantry has them convinced. They deny themselves the pleasure of becoming something glorious."

Wynne finally finds her voice, "You're mad! There's nothing glorious about what you've become, Uldred!"

The anger and fury in her voice startles me for some reason. I look at her in surprise before nodding and looking back to Uldred.

It laughs loudly, whipping it's head back further than a Human's neck should bend before coming back up to smile at us, "Uldred? He is gone. I am Uldred and yet not Uldred. I am more than he was." I swallow at the excitement and happiness its voice echoes through the Harrowing chamber. "I could give you this gift, Wynne. You and all mages. It would be so much easier if you just accepted it."

I tilt my head, "Wouldn't it?" I ask airily.

Uldred glares at me, "But people can be so stubborn."

"Say what you like, I'm still going to kill you." Erianne growls out as she draws her bow.

Uldred throws his arms up and turns to shift just out of Erianne's direct sight as he stalks around the Abominations. "Resistance! Everywhere I go, resistance! How very inconsiderate."

Something catches my eye and I look over to see an elderly mag-

_Oh no._

"What do we have here? Why it's the First Enchanter. Come say hello Irving." Uldred pulls at the fade tendrils I can sense holding Irving back from resisting and he staggers to his feet to face us. I gawk in shock at the still bleeding cuts that line the elderly man's face and torn robes.

_He tortured Irving?_

"Don't mind the blood. He's had a... hard day."

"Makers blood!" Alistair shouts out in surprise.

I look over to see him just getting through the doorway and then proceed to gawk with Leliana at the horrific scene in front of us.

Wynne gasps as she finally takes a breath of shock at Irving's state. "What have you done to him!"

Uldred smirks as Irving turns to look at Wynne against his will, "S-stop him... he... is building an army. He will... destroy the templars and-" Irving struggles to continue but Uldred forces him to bit through his lower lip, causing a stream of blood to stain his gray beard crimson-red.

"You're a sly little fox, Irving. Telling on me like that. And here I thought he was starting to turn." Uldred mutters out plainly as if it was inevitable.

_Time to do something about that._

I clench my left fist behind my back while Uldred isn't looking my way, slowly building fade energy there for the first strike.

At this point everyone is armed and ready for a the strike. "Never!" Irving struggles to bite out through the intense pain I can see in his eyes.

Uldred waves a hand and Irving flies back into the corner, roughly skidding to a stop before hitting the half-mangled body of a mage that didn't survive the transformation process. "That's enough out of you, Irving." I snarl at Uldred as he turns to smirk at me and say, "He'll serve me, eventually. As will you..."

I open my mouth to shout attack when Erianne beats me to it, "I think my answer is a no." She lets an arrow fly, piercing the soft fleshy pack on the side of one abomination's head, splattering the gore all over Uldred as the creature dies at his feet.

He calmly wipes his face off with his robes and snaps his fingers. A flash of light blinds us for a moment before we all look up in fear and fury at the massive six meter tall monstrosity that was, the Pride demon's physical form. "Then you will die like the rest who deceived me!" He shouts with a soul tearing power that nearly breaks my concentration.

I grab my staff and throw all my concentrated fade energy out in a small ball of green fire that impacts with Uldred's chest as Alistair rushes up to stab at the five abominations that appeared from the corpses lining the walls. My fireball explodes, flashing an ear-popping concussion of energy that throws Uldred back multiple feet while incinerating most of the dead or dying corpses and abominations around the chamber.

_Now THAT was a fire ball!_

Erianne stares at me in surprise for a moment before tossing some ash into another abomination's face and rolling around to kick out it's feet before firing two arrows into the back of it's skull, splattering the pulsing mess onto the stone floor. I set the corpse on fire as Leliana yells out from the other side of the room. "Uldred's doing something!"

Wynne and I turn to see Uldred casting fade energy onto the mages laying in the corner, "Stop him! Use the Litany!"

Leliana whips out the scroll and sings the sweet and bitter song that instantly breaks Uldred's concentration from the mages. Unfortunately this gives it time to swing around and grab Alistair by the shield and toss him at my head.

I duck barely in time to hear Alistair's armor slam against the stonework and crumple down behind me unconscious. "Damn it! Hold position! Erianne flank on right! Leliana left! Wynne, heal Alistair!" I shout out my commands and swap out for my daggers only to throw up a strong arcane barrier to block a massive fade flame blast Uldred sent my way. Its flames relentlessly pound my magical shield as Erianne and Leliana are occupied fighting the last four abominations around the room and Wynne does her best to keep Alistair stable.

The flames end just as I fall to the ground in exhaustion. I pant out, trying to draw at the fade energy flying around us to refill my mana, but it doesn't work. I look up and see Uldred in Human form standing over me. "You are weak, unfit, a small piece of my plan..." It grabs me by the throat and lifts me off the ground, I drop my daggers as the corners of my vision start to pulse with tendrils of green energy. My eyes widen as I feel the spell he's casting. "Yes. I'm taking control of your mind Darien... and once I have it I'm going to use you to destroy this realm." I spit in his face in a pathetic act of defiance and his grip tightens.

_No time... left..._

My hand reaches out and grabs my back-up dagger before stabbing it into his throat. He drops me and staggers back, clutching his gushing trachea before ripping the dagger out and running over to the wounded mages.

_What the sod is it doing?_

I barely stagger to my feet before I hear three mages scream out as Uldred uses blood magic to heal itself back to full power at the expense of three of the five surviving mage's lives. Only Irving and one other are left.

Uldred roars out and flashes back into his Pride demon form to bear down on me. "You cannot kill me- AH!" Uldred staggers back in his Pride demon form as Erianne and Leliana rapid-fire arrows into the splitting skin stretched around Uldred's chest.

Grabbing my staff I swing it around and form an ice blade at the bottom end just before it cuts into Uldred's thigh.

He yells out and swats me away as I turn to cast a fireball. I feel myself flying through the air before something hard impacts with my back and all the air is thrown out of me. I slump down to the floor and cough out at the lack of oxygen while Erianne and Leliana barely distract Uldred enough to keep him from murdering any of us.

"Use the Litany!" Wynne screams out.

I look over and freeze as I see Uldred possessing the last mage before Irving himself. Leliana pulls out the scroll but Uldred is prepared this time.

"Your pathetic existence will end!" A flash of fire throws her back against the wall and tosses the Litany into the center of the room. "Let the blood of the heretics burn the words of life." Uldred physically rips the last abomination apart over the Litany, soaking it with the corrupted demonic blood before setting it aflame.

"NO!" I'm faintly aware of my own voice as I scream out and toss two fireballs into Uldred's body, they stagger him away, but it's too late, the Litany's already ash.

_It's all up to my memory now. _

"What are you going to do now little mortals?"

I stand confidently as Uldred casts his possession onto Irving, the words of the Litany on my lips as I speak the words that no blood mage should. Every syllable burns my tongue, cuts my mind, tears my soul, but I can see it doing the same harm to Uldred so I continue. "AH! RAH!" Uldred covers his head and swings around, crashing into walls and statues desperately to stop my chanting before pulsing a massive mind-blast that wipes out everyone's thoughts.

I can only focus on breathing as everyone tries to recover in time to save Irving's life. A dark shadow engulfs me as I close my eyes to try and calm my scattered thoughts. "I will deal with all of you on my own terms..." The deep growl forces me to open my eyes and nearly scream at the horrific sight of Uldred's mangled demonic face inches from my own. The last thing I remember before I black out is it's wicked smile turning into a face-splitting grin...

* * *

A/N The poll for Darien's romance can now be found on my profile.

Last part of Broken circle coming tomorrow. :)


	12. Broken Circle Finale

A/N And as usual I'm behind my schedule. I've got to say this story is really awesome to write but it can get time consuming. Also Scorpio's Legacy is getting another chapter soon, I'm not making a date since the universe just LOVES screwing with my schedules. :/

Anyways, Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

_Absolutely lovely, I'm in the Fade._

I look around at the twisted structures and islands and smile at the strangely familiar place I've used as a private study for nearly three years. I step forwards and up to the first fade portal I can find. I palm the casing for the swirling purple energy and instantly I'm inside what looks like the mage quarters of the Tower.

"Oh Wynne, I've never felt happier in all my life."

…

_What... the... fuck... was that?_

I cautiously step up to the only open door just down a corridor and peer inside to see...

_Well, I guess that makes sense._

I walk in on a demon of Desire playing as Wynne and trying to get what looks like a barely thirty year old Irving to sleep with it.

_Oh man is this going to be like when you enter the Fade in DA: II? Seriously?_

I take a step forwards and sure enough, a flash of light hits me and I feel... off. Very off. I look down at myself and blink as I see a moderately sized bosom blocking direct view of my feet.

_Alright, who am I?_

I reach up and feel my silky hair, pulling a strand into my eyesight to see it's as white as a ghost.

_I'm his mentor or something?_

I internally shrug and step up with what feels like an extra hundred years dragging behind me.

"Come on Irving, we both respect each other, wouldn't it be better to be with someone you respect?" The 20 year old Wynne impostor whispers flirtatiously.

I roll my eyes and clear my throat. Instantly young Irving jumps up, "First Enchanter Elessia!" His voice cracks so hilariously that I internally burst out laughing while whoever I'm pretending to be simply frowns at him.

The demon turns to raise an eyebrow at me in a strangely curious fashion.

I think about reprimanding Irving while reminding him of his duties and my mouth moves for me. "Irving, not only are you out of your bed after hours, but you are spending your free time dallying with another one of your fellow colleagues!" He cringes from my surprisingly powerful and scolding voice and so does the demon.

_This one is apparently a great actor._

"Now go back to your room and make sure I don't catch you doing this again or I will make sure the templars hear of it." I point out the door and young Irving lowers his head in shame before quickly bolting out the door with a deep red blush on his cheeks. I turn back to the Demon and the entire place molds back into the Fade, the demon taking its true form once again.

"You are the Dreamer Aristocracy warned us about, I speak for all my kind when I say we do not want to harm such a rare specimen." She says with a bit of tentative attraction in her voice. "Ask of me what you wish and I will grant it in exchange for my life." The demon bargains.

I shake my head and sigh while absentmindedly playing with tendrils of the fade that naturally collect around my finger tips. "If I wished anything you had, I'd simply take it." Before it can even open it's mouth to respond I've already incinerated it with a ball of fade flames.

_It seems my affinity for the Fade is finally coming in handy when dealing with these pesky demons._

I move onto the next portal at the end of the small corridor of broken furniture and books, to touch the purple mists of energy that surround the hollowed out arch and be transported into the next illusion.

* * *

Moving forwards, I shake my head at my disorientation and feel something change about me. The white light hits me again and I look at myself in a mirror in front of me to find I-

_What the hell?_

I stare at myself for a moment before sighing at the irony.

_I'm Jowan for the love of the Creators, this is just-_

A knock on the door to the room breaks me from my thoughts and I feel myself get extremely nervous all of a sudden. I have to resist the urge to twitch uncontrollably.

_Creators, Jowan is fidgety!_

I let myself settle for wringing my wrists and stand up to answer the door.

It turns out to be Lily, "Jowan, I wish to speak to you."

I don't sense the presence of demons on her so I let her walk by and sit down. I close the door and turn to her to see her face light up as soon as we were alone.

_Why am I here? Where is Irving?_

"I've been meaning to-"

I raise my hand to cut her off, "Where's Irving?"

She raises her eyebrows in surprise, "He is in his office, I believe you just sent Solona off to speak with him."

I blink slowly as I piece everything together. I begin pacing.

_So Irving knew about Jowan and Lily, I already knew that, but because of that the demon Aristocracy knows about it too and probably added it in wi-_

"Jowan you're acting strange." Lily says with genuine concern.

I stop to stare at her as I patch together the demon at work must be a Pride demon since Solona was and is Irving's greatest student.

_I need to find them RIGHT now._

I bolt out of the room and ignore the threats the templars give me as I rush through the doors and follow my internal map to find Irving's office.

"Welcome to-" Irving stops as I barge in, panting and gasping for air.

_Holy sod Jowan's out of shape!_

"Jowan? What are you doing here?" Solona asks me in surprise, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

I hold up a finger to ask for a moment as I continue to catch my breath and try not to keel over. "I... oh maker why was the circle built in a tower?" I straighten out and nearly jump out of my skin when Solona, or really, the Pride demon in her form, glares at me dangerously.

"Jowan we are in the middle of a meeting, I hope this is important." Irving says as he crosses his arms and watches me suspiciously.

I blink as I find I have no idea what to say, no proof to show that this was the Fade.

_Ok, this is embarrassing..._

I lower my head and slowly back out of the room while Irving and Solona simply watch me with curiosity (Irving) and rage (Pride demon) boiling to the surface. The heavy wooden door closes in my face from the demon's manipulation of the Fade. I sigh and lean back against the stone wall opposite of the office to wait for the meeting to end.

_I'm sure Irving has everything covered in there._

* * *

_Ten minutes I'm fine with, twenty I start to worry, but a whole hour?_

I smash my staff, or at least Jowan's staff, into the wooden door once again, using his masterful blood magic to burn through the barrier the demon put up to keep me out.

_One more push..._

I slice my palm again and throw the wave of blood into the wood to be absorbed just before the energy is released, breaking the illusion apart and releasing Irving from the demon's hold as it burns to death from the torrent of bloody gore that I have set upon it.

Greagoir instantly tries to kill me so I knock him into the wall with a massive blood-pulse, an ability that paralyzes all enemies within a small radius of the caster while pushing massive physical energy into them with relative ease to send them flying.

_I've got to remember that one._

"Jowan! What in the Maker do you think you're doing?!" Irving tosses up an arcane barrier out of impulse.

"This is the Fade and I am not Jowan! I am Darien! An apostate mage that came with the Grey Wardens to recruit the mages!" I shout out of necessity.

He opens his mouth to reply but stops and stares beyond me in shock as his face pales. I turn and swallow as I quickly look up as far as I can to barely see the eyes of the huge Pride demon Aristocracy. "You have become an annoyance Dreamer. This foolishness must come to an end." It speaks with a deep and sinister voice, something that reminds me of a ten year, two packs a day, smoking addict that's using an inhaler.

_Oh man... this thing is A LOT more powerful than I originally thought..._

Looking around, I see I'm back in the traditional Fade, back in my original self.

_Well wasn't that nice of him to boost my powers two hundred fold._

Aristocracy crosses his massive arms across his stretched and ripped chest to speak, "I have a bargain for you Dreamer."

I narrow my eyes at him in a show of disdain, "I don't make deals with demons... but continue."

He seems to smile, even though his lips never move a muscle. "I propose an alliance, your ultimate control of the Fade with my knowledge of the ancient magics would be beyond anything seen by this or any realm."

_Wow, cocky much?_

I scoff at him and laugh, "You seriously think I'll allow you to continue to live after what you have done at the Circle Tower? You are simply out of your mind."

He growls at me, "You are making a mistake Dreamer, I am the strongest and most powerfu-"

I stab the bottom end of my staff into the hard fabric of the Fade and everything shakes in response, "You are not anything but another ignorant demon with a death-wish." I bite out furiously, concentrating all the fade energy around Aristocracy into my staff as he reacts.

"BEGONE FROM MY REALM!" He pulls some energy into his hands and tosses it at me. I'm too slow to react and it catches my arm. Instantly everything goes green once again and I feel myself drop into another part of the Fade...

* * *

"Are you trying to waste my time Dwarf?" The dark haired, heavily armored woman scowls at the lone Dwarf sitting in front of her with obvious distaste, "Or are you simply ignoring what I asked you to tell me?"

The Dwarf raises his gloved hands defensively, "Now now, lets not get worked up. You did ask me to recite the tale of the Warden and Guardian as well, if you recall."

She shakes her head, "Why is this important at all to what happened in Kirkwall?"

The Dwarf leans forwards and smiles sadly, "To fully know who he was, who both of them are, you have to hear the whole story, not just the juicy bits."

Cassandra sighs in annoyance and nods her head for the Dwarf to continue. "Very well, I will hear the Warden's tale. Your rendition of it will provide the needed credibility to your words on the Champion and Guardian."

The Dwarf scoffs and sighs as he sits back to rub his forehead, "Always paranoid Seeker? Very well, Darien's unique powers allowed him access to the inner workings of the Fade itself. I can't understand most of what he told me, but what I CAN say is that he was powerful in the Fade. Stronger than any Demon that dared stand against him."

Cassandra rolls her eyes, "Yes yes, bravado, heroics, get on with it."

The Dwarf holds his hands in his lap and smiles at the Seeker's impatience, "All in due time Seeker, all in due time."

* * *

The green waves of energy flow over me as I concentrate on directing them towards Irving once again. I see another island and feel his energy radiating from it.

_There we go._

I throw myself at it and blind myself with a flash of white light as enter another illusion.

"And what do you think you're doing?!" I freeze as I find myself face-to-face with what looks like a Tevinter Magistrate.

_Oh sod..._

The elderly and withered man in black robes glares at me, almost expecting me to bow down or something. Then I notice he's not looking at me at all, he's staring at the book in my hands. I feel the strangely mystic bindings of the thick tome with trepidation, "That is a priceless Tome on advanced blood magic and will not be touched by no man, woman, or child unless I say so!" I nod quickly and look back down to have the book slammed shut in my face, catching the tip of my nose with it.

He huffs and turns before stomping away as I rub the cut on my nose and heal it quickly.

_What a prick._

Looking up for the first time I gasp in awe at the cathedral of a library before me.

_Book, Tomes, Scrolls, Grimoires by the dozen! All freely within my sight! This is a paradise!_

I shake my head clear and focus on my task at hand. I feel an unsettling stare glaring at me from within the darkness and remind myself how dangerous the Fade really is.

_Thousands if not hundreds of thousands of books must reside inside these halls. This must be the legendary library of Minrathous!_

I can't stop the grin that curls my face into a moment of hilarity.

_HAHA! Oh this is awesome!_

I finger the spines of the books as I walk by, reading the Ancient Tevinter language they're written in with ease. Books on everything from farming to ritual sacrifice are outlined within the _Halls of Knowledge_ in Minrathous.

_I can't believe Irving's experiencing all of this! I'm so jealous! Well, of the 'infinite knowledge' part, not the 'trapped by a Pride demon' part._

I wander down the halls, searching for Irving, or anyone really. "Hello?" I whisper as I hear something scuttle about ahead of me. I light up a contained fade flame to light the hallway and jump back as I catch sight of the monstrosity that's right up in my face. I turn and run as fast as I can, the massive beast clawing and bashing through bookcases to get at me.

_HOW THE HELL DID A _BEARSKARN_ GET IN HERE?!_

I bit my lip to avoid shouting out in pain as I turn the corner and slam into a brick wall. "Mmmmph."

_Got to get up._

I slowly stand and groan only to swallow nervously as I feel the beast's chilling breath on my neck. Grasping at the fade energy around us I turn and cast blood-pulse, staggering the Bearskarn just enough for me to swing my staff around and use the enchanted ice-blade tip to cleave it's head in two with one single downward slice. "Oh I really don't get paid enough for what I do..."I sigh and rip my staff from the Bearskarn's head to cringe as the brains drain out in a blackened liquid.

Oh man...

I lean forwards to examine it while holding my sleeve to my nose to avoid throwing up at the smell of waste, death, and taint that fills the air. "That is disgus-" A rustling on the other side of the bookcase causes me to stop and lean towards it to peer through and see Irving reading in a small corner with a huge smile on his face. "Huh."

_He must have escaped the Bearskarn to hide in there._

Looking around for a switch I stop for a moment and shake my head as I realize it's Minrathous, everything is magically sealed. I close my eyes and passively scan the area magically to find a blood seal at the base of the bookcase, the symbol of Dumat, the first Archdemon, centered in the black-ringed spiral-circle.

"Darkspawn blood then." I turn to the dead Bearskarn and take out a vial to capture and dump some blood onto the seal. It glows a fiery red as the ancient blood magic activates to turn the bookcase into a passive object, allowing physical things to simply walk through. A useful enchantment in Ancient Tevinter to ward off invasions and thieves.

Irving looks up as I step through to stare at me in surprise. "Well hello there child, I didn't expect anyone else to be here, let alone a fellow scholar from outside Tevinter." He sets the book to the side to give me his undivided attention, "I know this is an illusion, I simply do not wish to leave just yet."

I smile at him sadly, "I know the knowledge here is plentiful, but it's not actual knowledge. I read a book on the life of a bard that's only accomplishment was whoring herself off to eight Magistrates without being executed within the first month. The knowledge here is false, only meant to trick your mind."

Thankfully Irving nods and slowly stands to say, "Then we must be off. There are demons and abominations stalking the tower's halls, I can still feel them." His voice is brimming with an ancient raging fire that I can relate to.

I smile, "Alright, stand back, this'll just be a few se-"

"RAAAAGH!" We whip around to see an absolute horde of demons and abominations rampaging down the corridor towards us.

"Open the portal! I'll hold them back!" I look at him in a split-second of shock and surprise before shaking it away to start the ritual with a slice to my palm. Irving looks at me in scrutiny but I cut him off before he can speak, "Unless you have a mountain of Lyrium on you this is our only hope!" He begrudgingly nods and turns back to grab and toss eight demons into the ceiling using his force magi-

* * *

"Hold on, he uses blood magic?" Cassandra asks bluntly, surprise written clearly upon her illuminated face.

The Dwarf sighs, "Yes, but that's not the connection you're looking for."

"Isn't it? It would... explain a great deal." Cassandra says worriedly. "I don't think I really ever knew him then. Tell me otherwise Varric, tell me that he isn't what the evidence says he is?" She asks desperately. She needed hope that everything was going to work out in the end.

Varric looks away and stays silent for a bit. He speaks up in just a whisper, "_'There isn't a way to do things right, only to limit the consequences and hope for the best outcome.'_ He told me that once. I don't think he could have done it Seeker, I believe his intentions were greater than any of us could hope for. Or even understand. Somehow he seems to have known this would happen, but did nothing to stop it." He shakes his head.

Cassandra turns away to stare into a torch lighting up the small room she had her men drag Varric into to interrogate. "Do I need to remind you what he did?" She says quietly. She turns when he doesn't answer. "What horrors he's inflicted? How many people have died because of him?" Varric simply stares at her blankly. Cassandra sighs and looks away, "Continue, time must show whether or not the Maker favors him. I shouldn't be surprised to hear of his blood magic, but I am."

Varric nods sadly, "We all were surprised when he explained it, you're not the first of us to get it wrong. Darien built a portal out of the demon's trap and they escaped within moments of the horde overwhelming them. The First Enchanter survived, he survived, and his fellow companions to the Warden survived, all because of his efforts. I'm sure your reports on the Tower never mentioned that." Cassandra frowns at him. "Alright then, once the portal closed, the illusions that plagued everyone's minds in the tower ceased..."

* * *

I groan as I open my eyes and sit up to find Uldred's Human form falling to the ground in exhaustion. I jump up and rush over, daggers in hand, ready to finish this already. "You, y-you cannot d-destroy, me." The demon states defiantly a moment before my blade meets the soft tissues beyond Uldred's eye socket. I cringe at the sloshing sound it makes as I rip my blade from his skull and turn around to see everyone else waking up as well.

_Lets hope everyone isn't worse for wear._

I spot Irving groaning as he gets up with the help of Wynne in the corner and walk over as Erianne staggers to her feet in a daze.

"Oh, I'm too old for this." Irving groans out as he struggles to catch his footing on the blood and gore painted stone floor.

Wynne holds him up and watches him worriedly, "Irving are you alright?"

"I've..." He winces as he puts weight onto his left leg and would fall to the ground again if Wynne hadn't caught him. "ngh... been better. But I am thankful to be alive. I suppose that is your doing, isn't it, Wynne?" He smirks and I stare at him as I notice that look in his eye from the Fade.

_By the Creators... he actually likes her?_

Wynne looks at me as she struggles to hide her blush with a smile, "I wasn't alone. I had help."

Irving nods as he turns to address me directly, "I felt your power in the Fade, and saw you manipulate it to your will. Absolutely astounding for an old man like myself to witness. I almost thought life had no more surprises left for me." He coughs as he tries to laugh and takes a deep breath before continuing. "I thank you for keeping the tower safe in my absence." He looks over my shoulder as I sense Erianne approaching, "The circle owes all of you a debt we will never be able to repay." He nods to Wynne and she lets go as he stands on his own and tests his injured leg. "AH!" I catch him as he falls forwards and hold him on his feet as he catches his breath. "Oh, Maker. I think going into the Fade pulled more out of me than I thought."

I simply nod in understanding, feeling my own mana severely damaged and drained from the experience.

_We all need a long rest after that._

"That's alright, I'll help you down the stairs. The templars await, we need to tell them the tower is ours once again."

He smiles, "Thank you child." We stagger over to the stairs and he winces as he takes the first step with his bad leg, "Ah, curse whoever insisted the circle be housed in a tower."

I laugh, "I think I said that myself a few times when running around here. Tis quite a nuisance yes?"

He looks at me in a scrutinizing way as we take one step at a time. "I didn't catch your name."

"It's Darien, I'm a... fade mage. My specialization dips into using the Fade itself as a source of mana for my more powerful spells." I inform him politely.

_He deserves the truth, especially after he noticed I use blood magic._

He stops us and turns to stare at me with a blank expression. Everyone catches up to us as he finally says, "Huh, interesting. I pegged you as the bookish sort."

I snort a laugh and smile, "I like to study any books I can find."

We start moving again and I watch him sadly as I see him struggling to get down the first flight of stairs in a five floor tower.

_He isn't going to make it like this._

"Oh..." We all stop and look left to see Cullen slowly rubbing his forehead as he reawakens to stare at us in surprise, "Wha- you let them live?!"

Erianne beats me to the punch, literally, she walks right up to Cullen and upper-cuts his ass!

"Holy Andraste!" Leliana yelps as Cullen hits the ground with a clank.

Wynne glares at Erianne as she grabs Cullen with Alistair to drag him along.

Erianne glares right back, "Hey, I've had a LONG day and I don't need anymore sodding mage-templar problems to deal with on top of everything else!"

Wynne shakes her head, "That was unnecessary."

I groan with Irving as we stand at the doorway, waiting for them to hurry up. "Are you two quite finished? Ow. I need some immediate rest and the templars aren't going to wait another second once the rite arrives." Irving states with a kind of subtle-serious scrutiny only a grandparent could pull off.

_I'm enjoying this guy more and more every second._

* * *

Making it to the last door, we step up and knock twice. "Oh... I'll need a cane after this. Hmph, thought I'd die before I needed to use a cane to navigate this place." I smile at the sentiment.

"Whose out there?" We hear someone, a templar most likely, ask from beyond the thick steel barrier doors.

I lean forwards and raise my voice so he can they can hear, "We have the First Enchanter, open up!"

…

"Alright, I'll fetch Greagoir."

I sigh in relief and shift Irving's and my own weight to my other side to keep it from aching later.

_This whole ordeal is killing me i swear I'm just going to go back to my tent, pass out, and take a day off. I can't keep up with all these young people..._

_..._

_Ok, I'm physically... twenty four? Yeah that sounds about right. and I know mentally I'm about forty-sixty years old, depending on what you define as a year when hopping between worlds constantly, and dimensions... You know what? I'm just going to drop it. I'm twenty four, that's that._

A moment later the doors are pulled open just a crack to show the templar from before peek in and nod, "He's here sir." He tells whoever is behind him.

The next person to poke his head out is Greagoir himself, who immediately orders the doors be opens at the sight of Irving.

We step through tiredly, our armor and robes covered in rotting flesh and soaked in blood. We definitely look the part of abomination slayers.

Greagoir grins wide as he steps back up to Irving and blinks in complete surprise, "Maker's breath. I did not expect to see you alive."

I look past him as Irving smiles at an old friend to see Erianne, Leliana, and Alistair all plop Cullen down on a bedroll in the corner of the entrance.

_I'll have to apologize to him when he awakens. Tis not beneficial for the future Knight-Captain of Kirkwall to have a grudge against me, or any mages for that matter._

"It is over, Greagoir, Uldred... is dead." Irving coughs out as his parched and scratchy throat he gained from a week of captivity and demonic torture catches up to him. He looks at me in a way that meant he wanted some privacy so I give it to him.

I let Wynne take his arm from me and I walk over to where Cullen tosses and turns in his sleep, "Demons... Mages... B-berry-Ale..." He mutters in his sleep.

_Wait..._

I grin and turn to the nearest templar to ask, "You guys drink Berry-Ale?"

He nods happily, "It's great with stew, helps get rid of the cold and gives flavor to the more disgusting of our meals."

I smile, "I know, I started it two and a half years back." I look off into space and sigh at the nostalgia, "Oh how strangely hollow those few fleeting moments of freedom were."

The templar jerks back in what I assume is shock, "You? You're the elf from Lothering?" He states with astonishment.

I nod.

"Hey guys! This elf is the one who started Berry-Ale Stew!"

My eyes widen as I'm instantly bombarded by... well... I guess you'd call them fanboys.

"I love your stew!"

"How'd you figure it out?"

"What was your first thought when you drank the ale?"

"Do you know any way I can make a bowl to go?"

"What else are you cooking up?"

"How long did it take for the mages to start turning?" Everyone stops to stare at the templar recruit. "Oh, I mean... yeah! Berry-Ale!" They all cheer and start shaking my hand and slapping me on the back.

_Why?! Why does this always happen to me?!_

* * *

Alistair sighs as he watches all the praise Darien is getting in the corner from the templar order, "He invents a new way to eat stew and he gets more praise than the people who end Blights? Unbelievable." He shakes his head in disbelief.

Erianne tilts her head to look over at him and smiles, "It's a REALLY good stew."

They look over as they hear Darien speak, "Thanks, I actually just dumped some Berry-Ale into the bland tavern stew, nothing special."

Irving laughs and they look over to see him smiling, "I have had the pleasure of enjoying one of his concoctions. They taste quite delicious."

Surprisingly Greagoir nods as well, "Yes, it's simple and keeps my men's bellies full. That alone boosts moral tremendously."

Erianne shifts to look at him directly, "So I have your word that the templars and mages will help stop the Blight?"

Irving nods, "Yes, it's high time we finally contributed to this fight."

Greagoir concurs, "I agree, the templars will hold our own, and protect the mages at any cost. The Blight must be stopped if we are to retain order at that tower."

Erianne grins, "Good, I was hoping I could convince you. We have to go, a lot of Warden business to attend to and such."

Irving nods, "We will rebuild. The circle will go on, we will learn from this tragedy, and be strengthened by it.

Greagoir agrees, "We have won back the tower. I will accept Irving's assurance that all is well."

In the background Darien starts sighing autographs reluctantly. Greagoir inclines his head to Irving, "Please excuse me, I have duties to attend to. And Irving..." He smiles, "It's good to have you back."

"Ah, I'm sure we will be at each-other's throats again in no time." He smiles back, happy to see an old friend once again.

* * *

"No I will NOT sign your small clothes!" The crazy templar holding up his spare loincloth pouts and turns to walk away sadly.

_Keep walking you sick freak!_

I quickly brush off the last templars while Morrigan chuckles in the background and the dockworker... whose name eludes me... gets back to work securing his boat for the templars to start sending over bodies to burn.

Erianne walks over from the tavern where everyone took shelter while I was nearly bludgeoned to death by fandom. "Having fun over here Darien?"

I scoff and turn to stare at her wide-eyed, "Tis maddening how many people wish for me to sign something for simply pouring ale into my stew so it isn't gag-worthy!"

She bursts out laughing, "Maybe we should make you the official cook. Put those creative skills to good use!"

I blink for a moment before smiling, "You know what? I'd rather like that. If I never have to eat what Alistair cooks again in my life I'd gladly do so."

She rolls her eyes, "It's settled then!"

"Oh thank the maker!" Alistair calls from across the clearing.

Everyone in the group burst out laughing as we start our long walk back to camp for the night.

I take a moment to look at our newest member, Wynne, and see her glare towards me when she notices I'm watching. I sigh and look back to Erianne at the front of the group to see the same glare watching me.

_Oh that's not good._

Thankfully Alistair distracts her while Leliana slows her pace to chat up Wynne for a moment so I have a moment to think to myself.

"They will be trouble brother."

I look to my left and whisper back to Morrigan, "I know." Erianne's laugh catches my attention, "I just hope I stay here long enough to gain their trust again."

She nods to me and runs off to flash into her Raven and fly off towards camp. I sigh angrily, my mana pool was somehow damaged from the events in the Fade and now I'm too exhausted to even do magic.

_Lucky witch..._

I feel the glare of an elderly mage on my back as I step up to walk ahead of the group, eager just to get back to camp and pass out already.

* * *

A/N And the Circle tower is done! Only another four-fifths left before DA:II! I'm seriously screwed! I'll work as hard as I can, but my main focus so far is my schoolwork. hopefully another chapter will be coming later tonight. (9-16-14) :) Have a wonderful day everyone!


	13. Spider Venom

A/N I spent all my weekend writing out four chapters of Drifter's Journey so, here's the first of them. Hope you enjoy it!

And as always... Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

When I reenter the campsite I find that the tents are already set up, but the fire has gone out. "I'll go collect firewood." I state to no-one in particular while wandering towards the forest edge.

_Oh... I never thought I could get this tired from entering the Fade. Creators it feels like I was bashed over the head with a war-hammer!_

Ten minutes later I have a hefty armful of twigs and firewood so I head back. I turn around and sigh as I see it's pitch-black. "Just wonderful." I shift my weight and toss out a mage's light wisp to follow me around as I head back.

_What would I do if I wasn't a mage? Probably die. Or get eaten and regurgitated by that animal to feed-_

_…_

_Wow I am dark today._

I get around to the fire pit and light the logs with my magic to start my new job, cooking.

"Here, I caught these while you were out collecting wood." I look up and smile as I see Erianne holding two plump rabbits by their quite unlucky rabbit's feet.

"Perfect, it'll just be about an hour now. Be prepared to be wowed." She rolls her eyes tiredly and walks off to enter her tent.

_Lets see..._

I let my inner self skin the rabbits and strip them of all their nutrients to be boiled in the black kettle brimming with boiling water that Alistair gathered from a nearby stream. "Here, tis always good with a creature of the wilds." I nod to Morrigan and take the herbs she kept in her pack for meals from her hand.

"Thank you sister, always nice to see you helping out." She scoffs and walks back over to her own camp, but I can see she appreciates the sentiment.

I start adding the herbs to the stew when Sten moves over behind me and over to Erianne's tent with a determination all Qunari are famous for. Erianne barely has time to look at him before he states his reason, "The Blight, how will you end it?" He demands.

I turn my head slightly to see Erianne staring at him tiredly, "I thought we'd just ask the darkspawn to please leave."

Sten crosses his arms while I start to stir the stew with a ladle I always keep in my pack, "If you hope to slay the Archdemon with wit, you may want to arm yourself first." I smile as I see Erianne actually surprised that Sten made a joke. "You say you are a Grey Warden. I have heard stories of this order."

She sighs, "You doubt I'm a Warden?"

Sten doesn't answer her, "Great strategists and peerless warriors. That is what we hear of the Wardens. So far I am not impressed."

I scoff as I remember how disorganized she was in the tower, "You and me both Sten. These bas have little to be impressed by." I feel something on the back of my neck and look around to see Sten staring at me intensely for a moment before turning back to the Warden.

"I'm not here to impress you Sten." She states bluntly.

Sten seems to take it as it is, "Evidently not, it remains only to be seen what you **are** here for."

I tone out the last closing arguments as I concentrate on cooking the stew to perfection.

I'm just about done with the first part of the process when I look up to see Sten standing there, watching me intently. I blink at him as I say, "Uh... What do you look at me for?"

His eyes intensify, "Women cook, you are not a woman. Explain."

I swallow as I can FEEL every woman's glare rest upon us from around camp, "Um. Tis easier to cook one's own food. I personally like a healthy bit of paranoia when it comes to what I consume. Better to be paranoid than dead." Sten simply nods in understanding and turns back to stare off blankly into the forest.

_What a strange guy._

* * *

"How can you do that?" I blink away my thoughts and look to my left to see Alistair sitting down next to me.

"Do what?"

"Stare off into the sky and not burn anything?" He says with a smile.

I laugh, "Tis multi-tasking. Quite a useful skill when alone in the Wilds."

He shakes his head, "How could you stand living with Morrigan?"

I shrug, "You get used to her. Now her mother, she was a piece of work. She could insult you, compliment you, and trick you into doing something for her in under seven words flat!"

He cringes, "Don't remind me." He looks over at Morrigan's camp, "She's just so..." He shakes his head.

I nod in understanding, "She's difficult to like at times yes."

He scoffs, "At times? When is she ever not? Anyways, I shouldn't distract you. I want a nice, un-burned, tasty meal to fill my belly and if I keep flapping my gums I'll end up eating with the dog."

The dog, Barkspawn, Barks happily from his spot beside Erianne's tent.

Erianne, myself and Leliana all burst out into laughter as Alistair blushes and scurries away from the campfire.

_This is probably the best group of companions I've worked with in all my combined lifetimes. They're like a family._

I sigh happily and go back to the somewhat tedious task of cooking the evening meal.

* * *

"Alright, stew's ready!" I shout as I find the rabbit and potato bits inside the pot to be a perfect texture and softness.

Everyone walks over with their own bowls, "This is a simple rabbit and potato stew. Rabbit courtesy of our Warden who shot two of them dead when we arrived in camp." Everyone laughs and she punches my shoulder, "Ow! Ok just for that, you get ONE portion!" She pouts playfully.

"Don't worry, I've got an apple and a hunk of bread you could have instead in my pack." Alistair states almost immediately. Everyone around camp snickers at the two of them as Erianne blushes intensely.

"Oh, uh, thank you Alistair, but I'm fine." Erianne says somewhat quietly. She looks at me, almost begging, "Sorry I hit you, I forgot about your touch thing."

I frown, "I don't have a 'touch thing' I just don't enjoy having people lay their hands on me without any actual viable reason!" She just rolls her eyes. "Alright fine, you get seconds, but next time you'd better be more sincere in your apology." I hand her two bowls of the stew and she sits down around the fire to dig in.

I look over to see Wynne just staggering over to the campfire, "Starting to slow down a little are we?" I ask with a smirk.

She looks at me tiredly, "I am just feeing a little weary, is all. As you may have noticed, I'm no spring chicken."

I nod as I hand her her filled bowl, "There's still some life in those old bones, I bet."

She smiles as she sits down to eat, "Thank you. You're very kind to say so, but in all honesty, I do not know how many years I have left in me. I have lived for such a long time."

I smile, "But there's always something else to do. It keeps pushing you to stay alive. I know the feeling." I sigh as I reminisce on all the absolute hell I had to deal with on a daily basis back in my past lives.

_All that fighting for something better only to be dropped here, not knowing if I actually made a big enough difference._

"I suppose so." She replies before taking a bit of bread Alistair is passing around and digging in.

I hand Morrigan a bowl, "Better than wood-rot, I can Greentree that."

She laughs, "I would hope not, or I'd have to slit your throat!" We have a good laugh and she and walks off to sit near the back of the group, but still at this campsite.

_She's at least more social since we met, I think._

I shake my head and hand off more stew to the collective party members lined up.

After everyone has their food Leliana breaks off into an intense story about some princess from Rivain and her husband that was murdered by her lover. Everyone somewhat enjoys the tale and before anyone knew it I was regaling my tales of fighting battles in the Wilds and with the Hawkes. They got to know more about me and I got to impress Alistair with my tale of how we defeated the Ogre. All in all the whole evening flew by without any problems.

I finish up my stew and decide to bring up something that's been bothering me, "So, where are we going next?" I ask Erianne directly.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Leliana exclaims. "A letter arrived while you were away." She hands the sealed letter to Erianne who promptly breaks the wax seal and opens it.

Her eyes drift over the letter quickly before she re-reads it and hums curiously, "Hmm... it seems like the rumor we heard about Bann Loren was true. A survivor from Ostagar has been captured by his men and is being held on his land."

Alistair coughs on his food, "Muat?" I cringe as bits of food fly out.

"Dear Creators man, swallow!" I state in disgust.

He blushes and swallows, "What?" He repeats.

Erianne nods as she looks over a map she unrolled on ground, "Yeah, and it looks like his land is close, really close." She points north-east from here, "About two leagues that-away."

"If there are any survivors we must help them! One of them could be a Warden!" Alistair argues adamantly.

She nods, "Agreed. We'll head out at first light."

* * *

Leliana and I volunteered for first watch, we ended up walking the perimeter in silence for a few hours before sitting down on a rock to rest for a moment. I look up and try to remember everything I've done and all I have to do to end the Blight.

_The Circle is done, now we just need the Dwarves, Elves, Redcliff, then the Landsmeet and fighting the Archdemon at Denerim._

I sigh as I rest my head in my hands.

_Sounds easy, but if the shit at the Tower is any indication of the future it's going to be a long ye-_

"Something wrong?" I look up from my thoughts and see Leliana watching me with concern. "You seem strong-willed and happy in the open, but when I see you alone you look so sad." She says quietly.

I look up at the stars and mutter, "I could say the same about you." I smile at the glistening spots of twinkling light that seem to cover every inch of the sky, "So beautiful, young, full of life, but marked by the path once walked."

I blink at my own words and look down just as Leliana swallows nervously, "What are you talking about?"

I shrug, "What do you think I am talking about?" We stare at each other for a while. She trying to make sense of me while I'm just screwing with her. I snort a laugh, "Relax, I'm only screwing with you."

She blinks in shock, "What?" Her eyebrows raise up to her hairline.

I sigh and shake my head, "Lets start over, I'm Darien nice to meet you." I hold out my hand and she takes it.

"Greetings, my name is Leliana. It is a pleas-" She freezes as I kiss the back of her hand.

"The pleasure is mine Leliana." I let go of her hand as I smirk at her reaction.

She blushes, "Ooh, a gentleman? You are full of surprises, yes?" She says airily.

We look at each-other in silence for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Now, I heard you lived in the Chantry?" I ask, still brimming with laughter.

She nods while smiling, "Yes, I enjoyed the quiet. The cloister life was suited for comtemplation, and I found peace in the silence."

"Yes, I know."

She looks at me, "Oh? Did you ever visit the Chantry? I don't believe I ever saw you there."

I smile weakly, "I, ah... _met_ the Revered Mother once or twice."

She blinks in surprise, "Was this before the Blight? I don't remember anyone like you meeting her grace."

I nod, "I saw you in the gardens, I was... observing the garden when the Revered Mother entered." She watches me in confusion. "Maybe this will remind you..." I concentrate and flash into my raven form, "CAW!"

I jump back into my elf form to see her staring at me with wide eyes, "Holy Maker! That- that bird was you?"

I nod and smile, "Oh the look of the Revered Mother's face when I deposited a gift was priceless!" I bark out a laugh. "She swore! She cursed the Maker! HAHA!"

Leliana's disappointed frown breaks into a smile, "The look WAS priceless." She giggles, "Oh Maker I was so surprised when she cursed I nearly fainted!" Her smile falls, "Oh goodness! I almost hit you! I'm so sorry!"

I wave off her concern, "No problem, T'would be my reaction as well."

She laughs, _"'Holy sodding Maker!'"_ We laugh over her mocking of the Mother and smile at the strange coincidences we come across time from time.

* * *

The next morning everyone was already packed by dawn and had everything ready to go as Erianne ordered the march. We walked off in relative silence, maybe a few small animals or birds interrupting our path only for Barkspawn to chase them back into the forest here or there. All in all it was a nice break from the constant fighting.

I sigh as the feathers on my dagger sheath across my chest make it itchy once again, which somehow reminds me of the bonding Leliana and I did throughout last night.

_She's a surprisingly good listener as well as a good sport. I even tripped her for a laugh, she ended up grabbing me and both of us ending up rolling down a rocky hillside and into a pond. Haha, good times..._

"Darien, could I ask you a question?" I blink and look to my left to see Leliana walking beside me.

"Uh, sure, go ahead."

"Where do you come from?"

I look at her intensely, weighing the options like usual before finding a viable story, "I'm Dalish, but lost my clan so... I came from the Wilds I guess."

She raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "I didn't know the Dalish camped in the Wilds."

"They don't, tis dangerous and infested with diseases." I state as bluntly as possible.

"...oh, I'm sorry." her empathy warms my heart.

"Don't worry about it." I respond apathetically.

She looks at the road ahead for a while, a bit worried by the way she fidgets with her fingers, "Uh... I've never met a Dalish before."

Her statement doesn't register for a few moments until I look over to see her staring, "Oh! I'm sorry I've just been distracted." I shake my head clear.

She nods, "In Orlais most elves either work in Alienages or live in the homes of their masters as servants, often in great wealth and luxury."

I blink at her in surprise that I've never heard this conversation before.

_Serves me right for taking priority over Mass Effect and skipping most of the dialogue in Dragon Age: Origins._

"I did not know that, strange."

She smiles, "I've known elven servants with servants of their own. A well-trained elven servant is highly valued in Orlais. They are nimble and dexterous..." I look at her as she pauses to see a slight blush creeping up her neck, "and many people find them pleasing to look at."

Morrigan scoffs from a few feet ahead of us, Leliana doesn't notice.

I smirk at her, "So I should offer myself to some Orlesian Noble?" I state sarcastically.

Her smile drops, "No, I did not mean it that way!"

I raise an eyebrow at her, "What?"

She sighs, "My words were clumsily chosen. I did not mean to offend. I- ugh... I am sorry."

"Leliana, I was joking. I don't take offense at your knowledge, tis quite interesting."

She looks away, "Of course, I am sorry if I implied otherwise."

I shake my head at her strange behavior, "No problem."

"Thank you. You have given me a lot to think about." She slows her pace to drift to the back of the group and I'm left alone to wonder what the hell just happened.

* * *

"Alright, everyone set up camp for the night, we'll be back in a few hours." Erianne tells the rest of us while she, Alistair, Leliana, and Wynne all go off to rescue the Ostagar survivors from Bann Loren, the sniveling weasel... She specifically denied my volunteering for the journey In favor of everyone who could either help out or was there when Ostagar fell.

_Whatever she thinks will help I guess._

I sit down next to Sandal and Bodahn at one of the rare times they leave their cart unattended to grab a meal. "Hey guys."

Bodahn looks up from his bread and smiles, "Well, look who it is. I'm sorry for your misfortunes messere."

"It's alright Bodahn, I understand." I look at Sandal as he plays with a white stone, "Hello Sandal."

He looks up and smiles brightly, "Enchantment!"

"What are you working on?" I ask curiously, remembering the curious enchantments he did throughout both Dragon Age games.

He holds up the white stone and I blink as I see the blue inscription of frost in Ancient Tevinter carved on the surface. "Huh, frost. What types of enchantments do you know?"

Sandal watches me for a second, "Many enchantments."

…

_I thought Sandal didn't gain a larger vocabulary until the second game? All well... simple details._

"Ah, so you can understand those symbols?" Bodahn asks.

I nod, "Yes, I am well-versed in Ancient Tevinter and have enchanted one or two things in my studies, although they always failed."

"Then perhaps my boy can teach you some things about enchanting." He states kindly.

"Enchantment!"

"Haha, I think he likes the idea!"

I smile, "That sounds wonderful. Oh and here." I take the black crystal amulet from around my neck and hand it to Sandal. He takes it and seems to marvel over the strange designs carved into the dark rock. "I wanted to thank you for helping me find the way back, you know, after Erianne tied me to a tree. This is an enchanted amulet a friend gave me for good luck years ago. I feel it fitting for me to pass it on."

Sandal stares at the black crystal for a moment before quietly whispering, "Enchantment Protect!" The black crystal clears up and turns a bright green before lowering into a mildly bright glow.

_What the heck did he do?_

"What did you do?" I ask as he hands me back the amulet, Bodahn still speechlessly watching from the sidelines.

Sandal claps his hands together rapidly, "Fade goes away!" He says in a bright and childish voice. I watch as he turns to Bodahn and says, "I want some pie." Before walking back across the campsite to hop into their cart.

"Uh... Fade goes away?" I ask as I turn to Bodahn.

Bodahn shrugs, "I haven't the faintest idea what's gotten into him. That's the most he's spoken to anyone in years. Perhaps it has something to do with the amulet."

I nod, "Maybe."

"Well then, I still have some armor of your companions to enchant before nightfall, speak to you later Darien." He wraps up the rest of his bread and stands to walk away.

I shake his hand, "Be well you two. I'll be by in a few days to study some rune-crafting."

He walks away, leaving me alone to wonder what Sandal did to the amulet Morrigan gave me to commemorate the success of my first hunt. I smile at the feeling of accomplishment I had when her pride in my ferocity boiled down to a better friendship between brother and sister.

_She's always trying to put people down, or insult others for her amusement, but in that instant she was simply a proud teacher of maiming and savagery._

I pull the amulet over my head and cringe at the shifting of fade energy that bleeds out of my body and into the air. I pant as I focus it all back inside and gasp as my physical connection to the Fade weakens.

_Fade goes away... I'm guessing that's in the literal sense. Creators is that distracting..._

I look around before pricking my finger and using the blood to form fade energy in my palm, its actually much easier than before for some reason. But when I let it go it evaporates instantly.

_So it must stabilize the Veil around me, making it possible to perhaps battle a demon without strengthening it with every drop of blood! Oh how clever! Sandal you are a genius! Now I'm actually wishing I was attacked by a demon!_

I smile at the new trinket our resident savant has bestowed upon me and walk back to my tent to study some of the books I... 'recovered' from the Circle Tower. I nod to Morrigan as she joins me, and we use our free time to translate Mother's Grimoire while we still can.

_The secrets held within are beyond invaluable for mere men to coddle within a spire after-all._

* * *

Morrigan looks up at the noise from Mother's Grimoire and I peek my head out of the tent to see a group of people approaching the camp. "What do you see?" She asks.

"It might be Erianne returning, but it looks like someone is wounded." I look at her, "Stay here and ready yourself."

She scoffs, "T'would be easier to just ambush them before they reach our camp."

I sigh, "Fine, come on." Both of us arm ourselves and step forward cautiously, ready to attack or run at any moment.

I watch the shadows shift at the sight of us and- "Darien? Help Alistair with Leliana!" I blink before rushing up at Erianne's voice to grab hold of Leliana's left arm with Alistair on the right.

"The stars are, blue and greening..." Leliana mutters while staring up into the dark night sky.

"What's wrong with her?" I ask worriedly.

"Get her to my tent, I have some tonics that might help!" Wynne exclaims in a partial panic.

"Tis easy to explain what happened now!" Morrigan complains to Erianne.

"Morrigan please just help out! I'll explain AFTER Leliana is stable!" She retorts.

Leliana goes limp and we have to carry her over to the tent. "Place her on my bedroll." Wynne says quickly. We do and she shoos us all out of the tent. Erianne is pacing outside and muttering incoherently. I grab her by the shoulders and force her to look me in the eyes, "What happened?!"

She stares at me before angrily pushing me off, "I don't need to tell you anything!"

Alistair steps up, "Erianne-"

"No! He is only here because YOU wanted him to! He is DEAD to me do you not understand that? He gets nothing!" She shouts back.

"T'would be best if we all calm down. This emotionally frantic debate accomplishes nothing!" Morrigan exclaims.

Wynne sticks her head out of the tent, "We were on our way back when a pack of giant spiders ambushed us, Leliana was bitten by one that dropped from a tree and collapsed a few moments later from poisoning. Now back away from the tent! I cannot concentrate with all this arguing going on right next to my ear!"

"What the fuck!" I yell out as I whip my head back to Erianne, "You don't keep anti-venom with you at all times?! Do you guys even have health poultices?!"

Alistair shrinks down at my tone, "No, we don't."

"You don't get to judge me you bastard! You abandoned me in the middle of the forest!" She yells defensively.

I shake my head angrily, "And you did the same to me so we are even! Now shut up and lets figure this out!" I ignore any retort she's about to shout and march into Wynne's tent. I stop her as she's about to argue, "You need help, I have medical training, so lets get her stable!"

Wynne reluctantly lets me stay, "Alright, prop her head up and keep dabbing her forehead while I try and find a tonic to slow the venom down."

"Alright." I prop up her head with a pillow and check her pulse to find it's in rapid, shallow beats.

_Come on Leli, don't you die on me..._

I dab and keep checking her pulse for what feels like a lifetime until Wynne appears at my side with a blue vial. "Tilt her head up." I do and she pours the liquid down her throat.

After a while Leli cringes in pain and starts to sweat even more. "What did that do?" I ask as Wynne flies across the tent to search through her tonics again. I lean down and feel Leli's breath slowing, "Damn it Wynne get your behind in gear! She's almost gone!"

Wynne drops down beside me with a white liquid and pours it into her hand before rubbing it across the two pincer wounds in Leliana's shoulder. The wounds start seeping a yellowish-green puss for a while before closing. I reluctantly wipe the puss off with a different strip of cloth and clean the remaining wound before Wynne heals it magically. Leliana's breathing intensifies as her heartbeat stabilizes. I let out a breath of relief and close my eyes as I rest my head in my hands, "That was too close."

I feel Wynne's hand on my shoulder, "Yes, now go, she needs to rest."

"Is there anything else I can do? Will an anti-venom potion work?" I ask hopefully.

She taps her chin for a moment before nodding, "Yes, a small vial of anti-venom laced into a healing potion would do wonders for her."

"Ok, I'll get to brewing right away." I dash to the flap of the tent and stop for a second to look back, "Thanks, for saving her."

Wynne smiles sadly at me while not taking her eyes off of Leliana as I depart.

I wipe down my hands with a damp cloth as I walk over to where Erianne, Morrigan, and Alistair are sitting and eating silently. They all look up at me as I approach, "She's stable, but not out of the woods yet, she'll need a lot of rest."

Erianne and Alistair breathe sighs of relief while Morrigan frowns before turning and walking back to her own campsite.

_I'll talk to her later._

"Is there anything we can do?" Erianne asks me desperately, guilt playing all across her face.

I shake my head, "No, the only thing we can do now is give me time to brew up a special potion to help her along, but my alchemy set is destroyed."

Alistair frowns, "Then why don't you just go buy another?"

I scoff, "You really think Bodahn has a top-quality alchemy set just laying around? No, only the larger cities, maybe Denerim, would have that kind of thing in stock." I fold my arms and toss the rag into the fire, "Not to mention the required ingredients." Alistair lowers his head sadly.

_This just... sucks... why did this have to happen now? Only after I just got to know her as a person? God!_

"What about the Circle?"

I look at Erianne in surprise before frowning in deep thought, "Maybe, they have to brew top-quality Lyrium potions constantly so if one of their sets survived the disaster then I might be able to convert it, and the local inn might have some rarer ingredients or at least substitutes that I could use!" I smile as the plan comes together. "Alright, I'll go." I turn to get my things from my tent and Erianne stands to stop me.

"No, you are not going to be trusted with something this importa-"

"For the Maker's sakes Erianne he saved our lives in the Tower! He deserves to be trusted with this." I nod to Alistair in appreciation as Erianne backs off.

"I'll be back in a few hours." I say with determination.

"Wait, a few hours?" Erianne asks in confusion.

"Yeah, I can fly in my raven form straight there and be back before everyone goes to sleep. Then I can brew all night and get the potion ready for Leliana to be moved by noon tomorrow at most." I explain.

Erianne nods and backs off.

I grab my pack and staff before taking my coin purse with me as well and walking back outside. Alistair and I shake hands, "Safe travels Darien."

"Keep them safe Alistair, I'll be back before you know it." He simply nods and I wave to Morrigan. She barely looks at me. Sten crosses his arms and nods in what I think is respect before turning to stare into the fire.

I take in a deep breath and secure my pack as I walk over to the edge of camp while looking at which direction the Tower is on my map.

_Alright, south-west for about an hour and I'll be at lake Calenhad, then I can follow the shore to the Tower, perfect._

Closing the map, I pack it in my robes and flash into my raven form to flap off into the dark of night, the safety of camp long behind me in my quest to save Leliana's life.


	14. Vaughan Gets Stoned Literally

A/N Last week for the poll for Darien's romance! :)

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

Fluttering as fast as I can I dive and roll in and out of the trees to finally break out onto the open water of Lake Calenhad. Remembering the map I turn to fly along the coastline in a southern direction, hoping I can get to the Circle before the hour is up.

* * *

"Now I know the suspense is killing you Seeker to know whether he makes it to the Circle or not, but I have to fill you in on the Champion's story at this point." Varric explains calmly.

Cassandra raises an eyebrow in question but doesn't argue as he continues.

"The Witch kept her promise-"

"You mean Flemeth? Did she send someone with the Champion?"

Varric frowns, "In a manner of speaking."

"So it's true. Continue, but if you tell me they all flew to Kirkwall on a Dragon..."

Varric leans forward, "Nothing so fanciful, I assure you, now don't interrupt. Flemeth, the Witch of the Wilds, kept her promise and got them to Gwaren through sheer force of will alone, clearing a swath straight through the darkspawn and keeping the Champion's family safe the whole way without trouble. Things were almost looking up... until they saw the state Gwaren was really in...

* * *

"I can't believe we just walked through the horde to get to this smelly, rubbish-filled, rat-infested, stink hole!" Bethany exclaims while pinching her nose to avoid breathing in the horrid stench of Gwaren.

"Bethany!"

"Leave her be Mother, she's been through a lot, let her vent." Garrett explains from the front of the group. "What I can't believe is that we made it at all! I half-expected Flemeth to eat us alive after we made that deal!"

"Yes, she kept her promise, now lets get a boat and be done with it." Aveline pushes ahead, her mood still sour from witnessing her husband dying in front of her.

Bethany fingers the spine of the arcane book she'd been reading on the way and reluctantly places it back in her pack.

_So many secrets hidden within those pages, so many note-worthy spells... Darien has given me so much, I have to find a way to repay him the next time I see him._

She smiles at the thought of seeing him again but then frowns sadly knowing it won't be for a long while.

They follow the road down to the docks, wading through a see of refugees all desperate and on the verge of storming the first escape they see. Bethany cringes at the terrible fishy smell that seems to infest the air.

"What?! What do you mean there isn't any more room?!" Garrett exclaims as the captain dismisses them once again.

"I'm sorry lads but unless you can match my price there's no more room on board. It's a safety issue you understand." The conniving merchant explains with a toothily grin.

"But you only charged the last family one sovereign a head! I heard you!" Aveline argues angrily.

"That was before we ran out of room! Now pay up! Five sovereigns a head! No more, no less to escape the Blight!"

Carver grabs the pommel of his greatsword, "We are getting onto this ship, mate, or you'll have a rough time counting coins with only one arm."

The sailor laughs, "Lad, if ya harm me you'll be cut down faster than a shiner in a sea tavern! HAHA!"

Bethany growls as she pushes forwards to shake off her anger and bat her eye lashes at the poor sailor who immediately stops laughing, "Wouldn't it be best if we came to an agreement? I'd be awfully sad if we had to choose a different ship to escape the Blight..."

"Uh..."

"Bethany!" Leandra exclaims in shock at her youngest child's promiscuity.

She ignores her mother and leans in to whisper into the sailor's ear, "I could make it worth your while if you let us pass for the regular price?"

The sailor shivers at the hot breath on his neck and melts in her hands. "S-Sure little lady, I-I'll just... free up some room and we can get underway." He backs up and Bethany winks at him as he turns to dash aboard his ship.

"Hahahahahaha! Oh that was absolutely-" Bethany doubles over in hilarity as everyone else stares in shock that the quietest little girl of the group just seduced a sailing Captain.

"Beth?" Garrett asks with uncertainty after a moment, "How did you learn how to do that?"

She stops chuckling and straightens out her expression to a sly smirk, "Oh whatever do you mean brother? I simply asked him to let us on his ship." She says innocently.

"Maker..." Carver breathes in shock. "What did that Darien do you you?"

Bethany smiles and winks at them slyly, "I'll never tell." Garrett swallows nervously and everyone goes back to sulking as they realize the sailor was pulling the family before them off to make room.

* * *

"Are these going to happen often?" Cassandra asks curiously.

Varric nods, "Yes and no, I'm going to update you on where the Champion is periodically until the Warden's story is done. Then the Guardian will meet up with the Champion and I'll tell their story at that time."

Cassandra nods, "Very well, just advise me when you're switching between the two."

"Of course Seeker..."

* * *

_There! Finally!_

I flutter down to the ground just outside the Tower and flash out of my raven form. I pant at the exertion before pushing the door open and stepping inside to be immediately greeted by Irving, "Welcome! Darien is it? I was wondering when you'd return."

"No time, I need a master alchemy set now, a member of our group was bit and needs a special potion to recover." I state frantically.

Irving nods at my urgency and orders for a set to be recovered before sitting me down, "You don't look well son."

I smile as I continue to pant, "Yeah, flying to leagues within an hour will do that to you." He simply nods and we sit in silence while I recover.

…

"So, how's the Tower been?" I ask once I've caught my breath.

He smiles, "It has been cleansed of any lingering demons, though you were very thorough in your hunt, we only found two trapped inside statues on the third and fourth floors, but they seemed much older than even the circle itself. Perhaps the Tower is older than even them, it was after-all used by the Imperium before the Chantry existed."

"Huh... interesting." I comment while noticing the Fade was now strong inside, not as shockingly on the verge of tearing as it had been before.

"Here you are first Enchanter, one Master Alchemy set." The Templar states as he hands the large bound case to Irving who hands it to me.

"I hope this helps." He says kindly.

"Very much so, here's some sovereigns for-"

Irving waves his hand dismissively, "That is not necessary, allies work together in times of crisis. I''m sure the Wardens have done beyond enough to warrant this as a part of our payment for securing our home."

I nod in understanding and place the case in my pack before departing.

As the door slams behind me I flash into raven form once again and fly across the lake to land at the inn and step inside. "Welcome to the Spoiled Princess! Pick your poison!"

I step up to the counter and order the herbs I require before sitting down to rest up as much as I can before the long flight back. I close my eyes for just a moment...

* * *

"You look like death warmed over, can't say I expected any different. All you adventurous types always end up at the tavern."

I look to my left and sigh as I see it's Felsi, Oghren's old flame. "Not now, not ever, not staying." I mumble out in my tired state.

She shakes her head and scoffs, "Whatever, just don't throw up on the counter, takes forever to clean up."

The bartender/owner hands me the bundle of herbs and I pay him double before rushing out and immediately jumping up and flying off back along the coastline back towards camp.

* * *

I flutter down to the ground and squawk in annoyance that the camp isn't here. I flutter around a bit until I find evidence of a quick departure and flash into my wolf form to start tracking... again.

_Damn it Erianne! What the hell did you do to make them think running off was a GOOD idea?!_

I howl out in frustrated exhaustion and charge down the clear path they left going south down the trail.

_Maybe they were going to meet up with me at the Circle? No, no, Morrigan would have told them it would be best to stay put, but Erianne was pretty pissed... Damn it where the hell did they go? Especially when Leliana can't fight!_

* * *

I take a rest a few miles down the road to eat a squirrel and drink from a stream before moving back onto the path and noticing something odd... there were more scents.

_Maybe some merchants? No, no, they're too numerous, and I can smell-_

I whimper as I stop in my tracks and smell the ground again.

_Oh, by the Creators... I smell leather... musty leather... oh no, I have to move!_

I double my pace and bolt down the road. When my legs get tired I fly until my wings tire. Then I end up running again.

_Have to get there in time! Erianna isn't experienced enough to lead them to victory! Not withou-_

*CRASH!*

I skid to a stop and perk my ears up to listen to the direction the tree fell.

_South-East!_

I bolt off in that direction and after a few minutes I come across the fallen tree.

"Ataash Qunari!"

_Sten!_

Ignoring my absolute exhaustion I jump into a raven and fly over to survey the battlefield.

Sten is surrounded and taking care of five crows, Alistair is no-where to be seen, Erianne is sniping from a ledge where five dead archers lay, Wynne is healing up- ok there's Alistair, Alistair is knocked unconscious and pinned under the fallen tree, and lastly-

_Holy Creators!_

I barely dodge the fireball a mage throws at me and dive down to form out of the raven and into my wolf to crush an elevated archer with my landing. I bite down and rip out the little elf's throat before rushing up to the other panicking archer and kill him while he's stunned from just witnessing a massive wolf literally drop out of the sky and crush his buddy. I rip his throat out as well before howling as an arrow pins my left hind leg to the ground. I claw at it and manage to snap it off to dodge another arrow that nicks my right ear.

"Hold them back!" Erianne shouts over the battlefield.

I look over and quickly leap off the ledge to come in-between Zevran and Morrigan. Zevran jumps back as the huge wolf nearly tramples him before jumping up to stab it in the heart only to have his blades blocked by two daggers as the wolf transforms into an elven rogue-mage. I can see the confusion fly across his face before I kick out his knee and slam the hilt of my dagger into the side of his head, knocking him out. I fall to my own knees before I can relish the victory, my energy reserves are gone.

_I... need..._

I try and move anything, but it's no use, I'm beyond exhausted, almost no energy to even keep my heart beating. But before the darkness of my consciousness can fully take over, I feel a cool pressure on my chest and open my eyes to see Wynne over me. "He needs Lyrium, and quickly, his body is shutting down!" I hear her voice, but it's muffled and grainy.

"Here, take this." Morrigan comes into view, worry and concern brimming in her furious, golden eyes as she hands Wynne a potion. She looks down at me, "You will not leave me here with these buffoons!" I nearly chuckle at her before Wynne presses a glowing blue hand over my forehead while forcing the Lyrium down my throat.

_Oh, it's... ah! It tastes like thick mineral water!_

I'm about to complain before Morrigan extends her arm and a muffled flash of light and heat brushes the corners of my vision. I hear a death-scream as well. "Ah!"

"I'll hold them back! Save him!" Morrigan demands before grabbing her staff and rushing off back into battle.

"Hold on dear, it'll only be a few more seconds." I blink at Wynne in acknowledgement and she stands to throw up an arcane barrier just in-time for a rockfist to shatter against it, spraying me with small bits of rock and dust. I use the las bit of energy to cough and hope the potion kicks in soon. I close my eyes and in a moment of weakness... I pray to the Creators...

_Creators, if I die... tell Bethany to burn my possessions... they are too powerful to fall into anyone else's hands..._

I struggle to breath in and end up roughly coughing up what tastes like blood.

_Oh... I-_

A rush of breath overtakes me as every nerve and cell in my body regains all energy and control. I blink at the rush of energy before sitting up like nothing happened and chuckling madly at the feeling of being alive.

*BOOM!*

"AH!" I hold my hands up and instinctively flash an arcane bubble to halt the flames that blasted outwards from the fireball that landed next to me.

_Son of a whore!_

I get up and hold my staff defensively to see the only one left is the mage whose successfully holding off Erianne, Sten, Wynne, and Morrigan with an array of fire and ice that keeps them back. I take in a deep breath and wince as I cut my palm deep, nearly slicing a tendon. The wound burns as I fall forth the Fade itself to destroy this enemy, "_Pareal Heriol Berok..._" The tendrils of fade energy swirl around me as I form the ritual of stone, the only one I know, to force the mage to be encased in pure rock. A spell akin to Petrify, but a thousand times more powerful in that it compresses the victim until the stone statue is nothing more than dust and gore. "_Severon Ectus Victus!_" The dust forms around the screaming mage and infiltrates her lungs, clinging to her robes, slowing her movements until she's entirely encased inside the first layer of the statue. "_Terial Oriless Worilor... Joricut!_" The second layer cracks apart her flesh and compresses her until blood seeps from the first layer and her screaming form solidifies in the silence of the second. "_Serio-Loriak!_" I throw my arms wide as the last phase is complete and the statue shatters apart into dust and gore, splattering the last bits of the mage across the landscape in a very artistic fashion. I pull the last bits of fade energy into my cut to heal it and sigh at the relieving feeling of actually being in control again.

_Such a nice feeling..._

"Holy Maker! You- You stay back Demon!" Wynne shouts at me.

I look at her watching me in shock and horror. "What? Magic is magic! Tis simply a tool to be used!" I shout back in anger.

Morrigan agrees, "Erianne tell this preachy school-nurse to stop threatening my brother, tis quite unwise to anger him so."

Erianne skids down the side of the embankment and lands next to me with a calculating look. "I see you found us... again."

I step up so our noses are nearly touching, "I see your inexperience has injured a party member... again."

Her scowl deepens, "Do you have the supplies?"

I narrow my eyes into slits, "Yes, do you know who just attacked you?"

Her eyes narrow to match my own before she backs off and sighs tiredly, "No... do you?"

I nod as I let my scowl fall back into neutrality, "Antivan Crows, a guild of assassins. Though I'm not sure why they are here, I have just heard of them."

Erianne watches me for a moment, "Wynne, go help Alistair. Sten, get the tree off of Alistair. Morrigan search the assassins for useful supplies."

She scoffs, "I am not your servant girl to do your bidding at the snap of your fingers."

Erianne sighs, "Please will you loot the corpses for us?"

Morrigan huffs in distaste and starts picking coins out of a Qunari mercenary's pockets.

_Always fighting everyone and everything... it's still strange being the only one she trusts..._

"And as for you." I frown at Erianne as she points a finger in my face, "We were sick of waiting for you and had to leave with Leliana in the cart! Where the sod have you been?!"

I slap her hand away, "It's been barely three hours!"

"Look around! It's light out! It's been more than three hours!" She retorts.

I wince, I thought my internal clock had been off. "I've been trying to find you for almost two!"

"We left three hours ago! Two hours after you left!" She shouts.

"Alright, I'll take blame for that, but what the hell happened?!"

She growls with barred teeth, "We were ambushed. They took us by surprise, this girl told us her cart was attacked by bandits-"

"And you trusted her?!" I gawk at her.

She scowls at me, "Oh course! There's no reason to think a group of assassins were going to try and kill us!"

I scoff, "How about the leader of this entire nation having a personal vendetta with you? You ever stop to consider he might not just leave his mortal enemies alone to build an army in his own country?"

She cringes, "Ok, not my best call... but what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You just murdered that mage with so much over-kill that her body is now splattered across the landscape!" She points a finger at the huge bloodstain on the rocks and I swallow as I see how much over-kill I actually did.

_Damn... There's not even a shard of bone left..._

"Alright, I'll give you that. My ritual was seriously overpowered."

She folds her arms, "You think?"

We stand in silence for a while, just watching Sten and Wynne try to get Alistair unstuck. I shuffle my feet and sigh as I look over at unconscious Zevran, "Lets tie up the survivor, interrogate him for information when he wakes up."

"Alright, but only because I was going to do it too." Erianne comments as we lift him up and tie him to a tree with a triple-braid templar knot mixed with a Rivaini Sailor's choker. "You overdid it I think." I glare at her. "What? It's the truth. You have five knots there!"

"Yes, and this guy knows enough about knots to hog-tie both of us up to our necks and hang us from a tree in under ten seconds flat. He's a crow, he knows everything about assassination."

She nods, "Alright alright, fine. I guess overdoing it is a bonus when it comes to safety."

I fold my arms and turn to her, "Oh so NOW you're concerned with other people's safety?"

She looks at the ground sadly, "Yeah, after Leliana I should have just... I don't know, but leaving without looking for you was the wrong move. Maybe Alistair wouldn't be hurt if-" She starts to tear up, "If I hadn't-"

I place my gloved right hand on her shoulder comfortingly, "Calm down, calm down, you couldn't have predicted any of this."

She sniffles, "Sure."

"And you did good, most people can't survive a few seconds of a crow's ambush, you were BEATING them when I showed up. You're a good leader, if a bit inexperienced." I smile at her as she looks up at me with her big tearful eyes.

Her lips twitch upwards into a smile, "Thanks, we really shouldn't do this anymore. The fighting. It's tearing our group apart."

"Yeah, lets regroup after Alistair is safe and this guy is properly interrogated, then we can all vote on what to do next. I saw you were trying to head south?"

She composes herself and looks over to see Sten and Wynne's progress, "We were going to Ostagar, that survivor gave us instructions to retrieve the King's Royal Arms Chest that's filled with important documents. As well as the King's armor and possibly even body if we come across it."

I look at her, "That's a week's journey away from any of your possible allies." She looks at me curiously, "I read those treaties, and I've hear Alistair talking about Redcliff. Maybe we can drop by there on the way? Save time?"

Her brow creases in deep thought, her eyes fixated on the tree pinning Alistair to the ground. "Maybe, I'll have to run it by Alistair when he recovers, but it's a plan, something we've been lacking thus-far."

"Oh..."

We look at each-other then at the waking assassin beside us and quickly compose ourselves for the interrogation.

Zevran blinks multiple times and winces before looking at both of us, "Mmm... What? I... Oh." He shifts his bound hands and sighs as they don't budge a bit, "I rather thought I would wake up dead. Or not wake up at all, as the case may be." I internally chuckle at Zevran being Zevran, but have to keep the guard up on the exterior so I just listen, "But I see you haven't killed me yet."

Erianne speaks first, with a bit more anger than I expected, "That can easily be rectified."

Zevran smiles at her and tugs at his restrains a bit more frantically as I step in for the good-cop of this pairing, "Excuse my... friend's rudeness, though we do have some questions for you."

Zevran smiles uncharacteristically as an assassin, "Ah! So I'm to be interrogated? Let me save you some time. My name is Zevran. Zev to my friends. I am a member of the Antivan Crows, brought here for the sole purpose of slaying any surviving Grey Wardens." Erianne frowns. "Which I have failed at, sadly."

"I'm rather happy you failed, Assassin." Erianne bites out.

"So would I be, in your shoes." He responds quickly, "For me, however, it sets a rather poor precedent, doesn't it? Getting captured by a target seems a tad detrimental to one's budding assassin career."

Erianne goes to retort but I beat her to it, "Who hired you to kill Erianne and Alistair?" I ask directly.

Zevran frowns in distaste, "A rather taciturn fellow in the capital. Loghain I think his name was? Yes, that was it."

Erianne sighs, "How much were you paid?"

"I wasn't paid anything. The Crows, however, were paid quite handsomely, or so I understand." He answers. "Which makes me about as poor as a Chantry mouse, come to think of it. Being an Antivan Crow isn't for the ambitious, to be perfectly honest."

Erianne raises an eyebrow in what I think curiosity and asks, "Are you loyal to Loghain or not."

Zevran looks directly at her, unblinking, "I have no idea what his issues are with you. The usual, I imagine. You threaten his power, yes? Beyond that, no, I'm not loyal to him. I was contracted to perform a service."

I sigh to show I'm still here, just in-case anyone forgot.

"And now that you've failed that service?" Erianne asks angrily.

Zev simply smiles, "Well, that's between Loghain and the Crows. And between the Crows and myself."

"And between you and I?" She asks with her finger tapping the hilt of her back-up dagger.

_She's always quick to anger now, must be due to whatever happened to her after I was kidnapped._

He just grins, "Isn't that what we're establishing now?"

I cut off Erianne's deadly response, "Why are you telling us all this?"

He laughs, "Why not? I wasn't paid for silence." His grin drops, "Not that I offered it for sale, precisely."

"There's no reason for us to believe anything you say." She declares bluntly.

"Oh, very true. Thus there's no reason for me to tell you everything, is there?" He struggles against his bindings again and I can see he's getting annoyed, "As it is, if you're done with the interrogation. I've a proposal for you. If you're of a mind."

We look at each-other and I let through my trusting of his words, which surprises Erianne slightly. "Alright, we're listening."

"Well, here's the thing. I failed to kill you, so my life is forfeit. That's the rule, If you don't kill me the Crows will. Thing is, I like living." I snort a laugh. "And you obviously are the sort to give the Crows pause."

_Oh that reminds me, I have to talk to Pause about Erianne soon._

Zevran blinks at me and continues, "So let me join you instead."

Eri scoffs, "And what's stopping you from finishing the job later?"

He pauses for a moment, "To be completely honest, I was never given much choice regarding joining the Crows." Eri watches him intently. "They bought me on the slave market when I was a child." At this point Alistair's free and Morrigan, Wynne, and Sten are walking over to see what's happening. "I think I've pain my worth back to them, plus tenfold. The only way out, however, is to sign up with someone they can't touch. Even if I did kill you now, they might kill me just on principle for failing the first time."

"Ugh... this is why I hate slavery." I shake my head in disgust.

"Quite right. Honestly, I'd rather take my chances with you."

I turn to look at Erianne hopefully, "Well? What do you think?" I raise an eyebrow.

She blinks at me in surprise, "Uh..." She turns and sees everyone else watching. "What do the rest of you think? Can we trust him?"

Sten's first, "Do what you wish, as long as we fight the Blight I care not what happens to him."

Wynne speaks up next, "I believe he deserves a second chance."

"T'would be best if we examine our food and drink more closely from now on." Is all Morrigan has to say and I nod in agreement to that.

"That's excellent advice for anyone." Zevran charmingly comments.

Erianne turns to me next. "I personally trust him. The creators know I've been forced into some difficult situations myself and ended up on the side of evil. I'd definitely be dead if someone wasn't generous with their forgiveness towards me."

She turns to give the unanimous answer to Zev, "Alright, we accept your offer."

"Alistair's going to freak..." I mutter as she goes to cut him loose.

"Oh... Maker."

_Oh, well speak of the devil..._

Everyone pauses and turns to see Alistair getting up and staggering over from where Wynne and Sten left him to rest. He gets closer and opens his eyes to stare at Zevran, unbound, standing next to Erianne. "Wait... What?! We're- we're taking the Assassin with us now?" Erianne nods as he has his freak-out. "Does that really seem-" He winces and grabs his cracked plate armored side. "-like a good idea?" He says out of breath.

Erianne sighs, "You owe me one for Darien remember?"

He sighs, "Alright, alright. I see your point." He says weakly, "Still, if there was a sign we- we- were d-desperate." He starts swaying and Erianne steps up to catch him if he falls. "I think it just knocked on the door and said- and said-" He collapses in a plated heap at her feet.

"Alistair!"

Wynne sighs as she kneels down to check on him, "I'll treat him, poor boy exhausted himself trying to escape from that fallen tree."

"Put him up in a tent with Leliana. I'll be by to brew a curative for both in a bit." I look over to Eri and Zev as he bows to us.

"I hereby pledge my oath of loyalty to you, until such a time as you choose to release me from it. I am your man, without reservation... this I swear."

Well, we have Zevran now. That's just perfect.

I shake his hand, "Oooh, firm grip. You must be ripped under those robes!" And blush violently from his advances. I quickly let go of his hand and fidget nervously.

_Ok, maybe I didn't think this through properly..._

* * *

After spending the rest of the day preparing, administering, and brewing specialty potions for the wounded, I tiredly pull the flap of my tent open and look up to see Erianne struggling to read one of my books in the back. She huffs in annoyance and turns the book around in confusion, "How can you read this?" I notice she's trying to read the only book I have in Qunlat and smile, "The handwriting is so bad it's like it's in a different language!"

I laugh at her lack of knowledge, "That's because it IS Erianne. That's Qunlat, the language of the Qunari."

She blinks, "Oh, right I knew that." She puts the book back on my two foot wide, three foot tall shelf I bought off of Bodahn to store my books at the back of my tent. "how you can understand that I have no idea."

I sigh as I'm reminded how tired I am, "I was taught Qunlat, Ancient Tevinter, Orlesian, Antivan, Traders Common, Pieces of Elvish, and bits of Nevarran by Flemeth over two and a half brutal years of intense studying of culture and magic." I sit down onto my bedroll and groan as my knees pop from over-use. "Now, what are you doing here Erianne?"

She watches me for a moment as she fidgets nervously, "Oh, um... I wanted to apologize for what I... did earlier."

I fold my hands in my lap, "You mean blindfolding and tying me, unarmed, to a tree in the middle of the forest during not only a Blight, but a Civil War?"

She cringes, "Sod... that makes it sound like I tried to kill you."

"You did try to kill me."

She swallows heavily, "Yeah, sorry. I talked with Morrigan and she told me how bad living with Flemeth was." I look at her to see her horrified expression, "I didn't think anyone could live worse than the elves in Ferelden.

I shrug it off, "It was fine, I've had worse."

_Unfortunately that isn't a lie... Harbinger's an asshole._

She gawks at me in disbelief, "Worse?! You ATE live crickets!"

"At least I survived. And you still haven't told me what you've been up to since I... 'left'."

She bites her lower lip, "I... waited for a few weeks, waiting to see if you'd return. When you didn't I hitched a ride with a merchant caravan to Denerim." She sits down on a stool next to my bookcase. "I tried to get another merchant to take me to Highever, that's where my parents lived if you recall, but I was robbed." She shakes her head, "They took everything, all my gold, all my valuables, everything I didn't have on me when I went to the tavern for a drink, which thankfully didn't include my weapons and armor."

"I'm sorry."

She looks up, "It wasn't your fault, even though I blamed you for everything. I know it wasn't your fault."

I raise an eyebrow, "Really?"

She smiles sadly, "Yeah, sorry again for tying you to a tree, that was uncalled for."

I smile, "No problem... Warden."

She cringes, "Yeah, I should probably tell you about that." She shifts into a more comfortable position and starts her story. "After I was robbed I had to live in the Alienage since I knew the authorities wouldn't believe me, or even cared that I was robbed." She sits forwards, horror in her eyes, "It was just as horrible as I imagined from my childhood. Luckily I found my cousins, Shianni and Kallian living with my uncle. They took me in, and we got by. Two years of struggling to survive passed and I was actually starting to enjoy myself." I watch her intently, seeing the brimming emotions in her face barely stay contained. "Then came the wedding."

"Wedding?"

"An arranged marriage between 'bought' brides and their grooms, or the other way around, I can't really remember." She shrugs indifferently, "Kallian and her friend, Soris, were arranged to marry on the same day, a duel wedding." I nod to show I'm listening as she smiles, "Kallian was so happy, her husband would be Nelaros, an extremely handsome man, a prize for the dowry her father paid." She laughs, "Shianni was so jealous, she was absolutely cooing over him..." She stares off, lost in her own thoughts for a moment so I clear my throat. She blinks and looks at me, "Oh! Sorry, um... what was I saying?"

"You were talking about a wedding? And how attractive-"

"Oh! Yes, Kallian's groom was very attractive while Soris' was a bit... mousy."

I snicker, "Mousy?"

"Yeah, squeaky voice, annoying, quiet..."

"Yeah sure." I shake my head in amusement.

"Anyways, I followed them around for a while until these humans grabbed an elven woman behind Shianni." She frowns. "She called for them to let her go and I instantly readied my back-up dagger just-in-case." She folds her legs and sighs angrily, "I can still remember the flamboyant mocking in Vaughan's up-tight and cocky voice. He tells his friends with him to 'grab a whore and have a good time.'" I snarl in disgust. "I didn't want to kill him since he was the Arl's boy."

I stare at her like I'm in shock.

"So I naturally chucked a rock at his head and ended up knocking him unconscious."

I whistle approvingly and smile, "You are insane."

"Hey he had it coming!"

I laugh at her and shake my head in hilarity.

_And I thought she was normal! HAHA! I can just imagine the look on Vaughan's face! HA!_

"And what did you do when he woke up?" I ask properly.

She shrugs with a smirk, "Probably swore at the huge welt on his forehead. I don't really know since his buddies carted him back to the Arl's estate pretty quickly."

I stare at her in surprise, "So he left you alone?"

"No."

…

"He crashed the wedding and kidnapped the entire brides maid's party. He even got a luck swing in and knocked me out." She swallows fearfully and continues quietly, "I wake up naked and tied to his bed. He..." She looks away.

"Oh..." I breath as I realize what the bastard did.

"Yeah, he raped me. But I got the last laugh when I slipped out of my bindings and sliced his throat with a piece of ceramic pottery." She smirks darkly, "I even raided his room and got a few valuables and about twenty Sovereigns before I realized I just KILLED the ARL'S SON. I escaped after slaughtering my way through the castle to free Kallian and Shianni as well as the other girls. Thankfully none of them died, Vaughan was too focused on me to care about the rest."

"Good, that bastard deserves what he got." I growl out in fury.

_He broke every one of my moral rules... let his soul be tortured in whatever type of hell they believe in here, forever._

"It didn't take long for the city guard to find us, they just had to follow the trail of blood I left between the Arl's estate and the Alienage. I took the fall for everything and they were just ordering my execution when I was knocked out." She shrugs.

"Wow... I never knew..."

She smiles, "That's not the best part. Duncan, the former Grey Warden Commander here in Ferelden, was watching my execution and called the rite of conscription as I flipped off the crowd in a last bout of defiance." She bursts out laughing and I join her. "He said to me, 'Women as... strong-hearted as you shouldn't die young!' HAHA! I thought he was-" Her smile drops as she remembers Ostagar. "He died at Ostagar, along with every other Grey Warden besides me and Alistair."

"I'm sorry." I say truthfully.

She shakes her head, "Not your fault. But... thanks, I appreciate your concern."

I snort out a laugh, "You really have changed from that fearful, enraged merchant's wife who showed up crying at my doorstep all those years ago."

She smiles, "Yeah, I think what happened between us was for the best. You went on to... do, whatever you did. And I ended up being one of the two Grey Wardens left able to defeat the Blight in Ferelden."

I scoff, "Talk about irony." I drop my smile, "I'm sorry for abandoning you Erianne, I truly am."

"I know." She pauses to look at her feet for a moment. "Darien?" She looks at me, "Do you think we can still be at least friends? I-I need someone to talk to besides Alistair around here."

I smile as I stand up with her and hug her as a friend, "I'd like that Erianne, thanks for stopping by."

She sighs in my arms and I feel a tear drop onto my shoulder as I rub her back comfortingly.

"Thank you..." She lets go and kisses my cheek before leaving without saying another word.

* * *

A/N College is still taking up my time, but rest assured I'll at least post on the weekends if I have time. Even in the worst situations I'll find some way to get these chapters to you all. :) Have a wonderful day everyone.

Yeah! I'm so glad we finally got Zevran on the team! He's so fun.


	15. Ice Peak Part One

A/N Another chapter for the masses! :)

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Midnight Friday is the expiration date for votes on the poll, just saying. Oh, and I'm going to post the results not only here but on my profile so everyone knows what's happening.

* * *

I blink into existence near Pause's plane in the Fade and step over to 'knock' on his thoughts. He waves a hand to let me inside and I step forwards, "Pause." I incline my head to him.

"Drifter." He does the same. "It has been some time since we have seen each-other. How has your new life treated you?"

I sit on a rock that instantly morphs into an armchair and nod, "Yeah, I'm not here for long, I just need to-"

"Talk about Erianne, I know." He forms a ball of purple energy in his claws and spins it to reveal her face, "I've been watching her ever since you changed her fate. It is interesting to see how little it took for her to step into the role of the Warden in this cycle."

I stare at the laughing image of Eri and sigh as I push down my guilt for leaving her alone in the forest, even though it wasn't my fault. "What should I do Pause? She's going to die. I've already seen it in my dreams, if I don't change fate she will die fighting the Archdemon to save King Alistair."

He slaps his claws together, breaking my thoughts. "You do nothing, you have perfected a cycle you don't even know and the only thing you did was replace the Warden with a commoner. You might not understand this..." I glare at him. "But the Fade is not as permanent as your world, or this one. It-"

"Shifts constantly to maintain an ever-changing psyche in which the dreamers take form. I know Pause, because I read it from the Manual of Dreamers years ago. Now what can I do to save Erianne?"

He shifts quietly, not answering for a moment before turning to shuffle over to a bookshelf I just notice and thumb a few spines, "There... are no possibilities that could bring about less suffering and the Warden's life. I am sorry."

I growl, "No, I don't accept that! Look harder!"

He doesn't look at me, "I have already searched the halls of prophecy and looked at every outcome possible." He turns to flash up in front of me to face me directly and speak mere inches form my face. "Erianne must die to end the Archdemon, it's the only way the Guardian can be born."

"Guardian? What Guardian?" I ask quietly, surprised by the finality in his low voice.

He doesn't answer me as a bell chimes in the background, "This is our departure Drifter... you cannot come here again..." I open my mouth to argue and he pushes me back out of his thoughts and into my own realm before out of the Fade entirely...

* * *

_Stars... they never change... billions of stars ever-twirling around a central black hole that holds the entire galaxy intact... I wonder if one of those stars out there holds my Earth._

I shake my head and focus back onto the leftover rabbit stew I'm warming up on the campfire with fresh leeks for breakfast. I look up and see Sten still staring off into the distance.

_He was here before I was, did he even sleep?_

"YAWN!" I look over my shoulder and see Erianne walk out of her tent in full armor as usual. She smiles as she takes in the morning air, "Mmm... what's that smell?" Opening her eyes she sees me cooking and walks over as I stir the pot. "What's this? You got up early?"

I silently nod, not wanting to talk about my dream, or what Pause forced down my throat. "I didn't sleep much so I checked on Leliana and Alistair."

She sits down next to me in the dirt, "How are they?"

I stop stirring for a moment to sum up their conditions, "Alistair is fine, he just needs to wake up and have a hot meal and he'll be right as rain." I don't look at her and start stirring the pot again, "Leliana still needs a few days rest, we were lucky to give her the anti-venom in time. She's still fighting back the after-effects of the venom though. Hopefully she'll wake before we get to Ostagar..."

"Sod." She shakes her head sadly, "I really messed up didn't I?" She lets her face fall into her gloved hands.

I reach over and touch her shoulder, "You were just inexperienced, now you know to never leave without anti-venom and plenty of health potions. Just be thankful no-one died for the... accident."

She sighs and smiles at my comfort, "Thanks again for saving Leliana. I'm sure she'll be grateful."

"Yeah, right, I'll be sure to talk to her when she wakes up." I stir the pot as we fall back into silence.

…

She shuffles in the dirt, "I don't think we should go to Redcliff."

I stop to look at her and she meets my eye. "We aren't ready for that yet, or Ostagar. We have to learn how to work as a team in battle before we want to go up against the horde just to get back to where this all started."

I smile at her reasoning, "That's logical, yeah I get it. What do you want to do instead? Go to Orzammar?"

She scoffs, "I REALLY don't want to deal with the Deep Roads for a while, and you know we'll have to trek through them if we go to Orzammar." She pulls out a map and lays it down in the dirt with stone weights. "Here, Soldier's Peak." I look at the small black dot near the northern part of Ferelden where she's pointing. "There used to be a Grey Warden base here in Ferelden a hundred years ago, but they left it when they were kicked out. Levi, a traveling merchant, made a deal with Duncan before all this began to reclaim the fort for the Grey Wardens while finding evidence of Levi's great great grandmother's greatness since she was a warden there when it fell." I nod as she traces a finger down the road to just below the Circle tower. "We are here, if we set off today we'll make it there in less than two days." She keeps tracing down south and stops at Redcliff. "Just getting to Redcliff is easily a week's journey if we have wounded, four days if everything was pristine. Then if we can manage to get help there or even a resupply it might take another eight days for us to enter the wilds, find Ostagar, avoid the darkspawn horde, and deal with whatever we find when we get there. It's seriously going to be taxing on the group, and if we need to deal with dwindling resources AND wounded at the same time we aren't going to make it that far. Not to mention our lack of unity in battle."

I nod in absolute agreement and point at Soldier's Peak, "Then we take back Soldier's Peak. Levi can resupply us and we could take a shortcut through the Bannorn if we feel adventurous." I trace a path through the heart of the Bannorn that intersects with Lothering to meet up with the Imperial Highway. "If we hit the highway we can take it to Ostagar, save three days trip."

She shakes her head, "If the darkspawn haven't already flooded the Highway." She notes while tapping the shaded areas of the map that show the last known location of the horde just north of Lothering and possibly flooding the Bannorn.

I grumble in agreement while absentmindedly stirring the pot, "True, but at least it's a possibility." I look over the map and try to remember how it went in the game. I circle the Bannorn just north of Lothering, "The horde seems to be focused on the Bannorn at least, that'll give us freedom to roam through the country-side without too much to delay us. I'd give them maybe five months, six at most before they make a push to take all of Ferelden though."

Erianne nods sadly, "Yeah, I thought so too. We've got six months to recruit all of the warden's allies AND settle a Civil War before even _thinking_ about taking on the Archdemon. I don't know if we can do it." I look at her questioningly and she meets it with fierce determination, "But we have to, for the sake of all of Thedas!"

I laugh, "Now there's that fiery determination the warden's are famous for!" She smiles sheepishly and looks behind me to smile even brighter. I turn around to see Alistair stumbling out of Wynne's tent in the shirt and trousers he kept on under his armor. "Well, look who decided to wake up." I comment as he sits down next to Erianne.

He rubs his head tiredly, "Oh... I haven't felt this woozy since I lost a drinking match and had to plunge head-first into a pond because I lost." He leans forwards and inhales the stew, "Wow, that smells amazing." His stomach growls and I smile as I scoop out a bowl and hand it to him filled to the brim. "Thanks." He instantly starts wolfing it down, using his hands as utensils and getting broth all over his shirt.

Erianne and I laugh as he finishes it up by licking the bowl clean, "Holy Creators! Were you possessed by a hunger demon when I wasn't looking Alistair?!" I exclaim happily.

He frowns, "Maybe, or was it a demon of food...? I'm not sure, it seemed pretty famished."

Erianne bursts out laughing and I stare at her for a moment before smiling as I see how close they're sitting together.

_Oh, that's nice. I never thought She'd go for him, or at least I thought she wasn't into the clueless funny types._

I fill another bowl for each of them and we all have some nice conversation over breakfast. Sooner or later Sten, Wynne, and the Dwarves joined in as well and by the time the sun is relatively high in the sky everyone's fed and packing up the tent to move towards Soldiers Peak. Alistair didn't complain since his belly was full and his back quit aching so our plan was clear.

* * *

The mouth of the cave finally opens up to the chilling outside air and I shiver to try and keep my body temperature up. "Tis freezing!" I exclaim while turning my black velvet into a type of thick coat to hold off winter's advance down my spine.

"I do not feel any different." Sten replies from beside me.

"We get that. Qunari are powerhouses in bitter climates, but I'm just a little elf used to the forest where it's always warm! Tis never below freezing in the forest!" I rub my arms under the black cloak as my booted feet stomp through half a foot of snow to try and keep up with Alistair's perfect windbreaker of a torso.

"I think it's quite nice in the winter." Alistair comments lightly.

Erianne glares from up ahead where she's shivering in her thin leather armor and looking like the icicles hanging off of her bow.

"Elves are ill-equipped to deal with harsh climates." Sten states the obvious.

I nearly trip on a rock hidden beneath the snow and huff in annoyance, "You think?"

He stops and turns to me with a hard gaze, "I know."

…

…

"Alright?" I scurry up ahead and into the tree line to get a break from the chilly mountain air as Levi finally finds the path and points up towards the fort. Barkspawn hops in and out of the snow around us as we stop, probably the only one enjoying the winter wonderland.

_Lucky bastard, I wish I was insulated with two inches of fur._

"And here we are. Soldier's Peak." Levi states happily.

We all look up as the blizzard clears us a fine view of the magnificent fortress carved into the mountainside. "Wow..." I breath in wonder.

"Impressive." Sten comments quietly.

Levi smiles in awe, "Maker's breath, look at the size of her. What a fortress. I told you the map would get us through the tunnels."

Erianne turns to look at him in exasperation as she break a five inch icicle off her bow and shatter it in her fist as she shakes her head. "Andraste's blood, how did you find that path on your own?"

Levi turns away, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Just tell me before my toes freeze of?"

Levi blinks before nodding as he explains, "It came to me in my dreams. When I was a lad, I tried going through the tunnel by myself, got horribly lost. But every now and again since, I've dreamt of it."

Erianne raises a snowy eyebrow, "Huh, interesting... Lets carry on, our time to stop the Blight is already short as it is." She turns and starts hiking up towards the entrance to the massive fortress.

"Right you are. I'll follow you, from a distance. This place smells of death."

We all walk up with Erianne, watching the darker corners of the fort as we enter the unhinged gates.

"Soldier's Peak. Looks like its had better days, better centuries more like." I smile at Alistair's comment as Barkspawn barks in agreement. "Yeah you got that right... oh great, now I'm talking to the dog."

Erianne and I start snickering under our breath as we keep moving inwards towards the courtyard.

_This is nice, actually quite peaceful. I wonder wher-_

My vision shifts and everyone stops to stare as glowing figures blend into a vision from the past.

_Me and my big mouth..._

"Fall back, fall back already!" A man in a General's armor orders to his men as they are slaughtered by the unseen sentries guarding the inner walls of the fort.

A soldier, a lieutenant maybe, stops to respond, "Taking the Peak will not be easy m'lord."

The General scowls in anger, "I gave the Wardens one chance to die with honor. Instead, they hole up like cowards. We follow the King's advice, then. Starve them out."

"But the Peak has months of supplies!"

"Then we wait. When they are too weak to lift their weapons, we will send them to their final Judgment."

The entire courtyard clears up as everything bends back to reality.

_Holy Creators! That was a LOT of fade energy!_

Levi stares and does a double-take before turning towards Erianne, "Wha- What was that? I felt a bit woozy there. I'm not mad right? You saw it, too?" His eyes are huge at this point with fear.

_Hell, I'd be freaked out too if this wasn't my... wow, I've seen more than two hundred visions in my three lifetimes... how am I not absolutely insane by now?_

Erianne nods kindly, "I had a vision too, Levi." I look at her and see she's quite disturbed by the event. As is Alistair and Sten.

I clarify, "It was a waking dream."

Levi looks at me in surprise, "How is that possible? This place must be truly haunted."

I shake my head, "The Veil is thin here. The Circle Tower was just the same."

"The Veil?"

I sigh at his understandable lack of knowledge, "An invisible weave that separates us from the Fade and Demon. I can feel it weakened here."

Levi freaks out appropriately, "D-Demons?" He turns to Erianne, "Thank Andraste you came Warden." He sighs and holds out an arm to let us pass, "After you."

We arm ourselves properly and form up with Sten, Alistair, and Barkspawn in the front while Erianne and I are supporting in the back. As soon as we make it to the center of the courtyard the icy ground breaks apart and armored corpses stagger to their feet as wisps of fade energy bleed into them to give them life. "Kill them quickly!" I shout as I let my cloak drop to the snow and focus on the fade energy around us. After realizing the source of the corpse's resurrection I rip the fade energy out of two corpses behind us just as I swipe my staff around to the front, flash-freezing the first wave in a thick layer of ice and frost with a powerful cone of cold. I spot the last of the armored corpses rushing to flank around their frozen brethren so I shout the ancient words for a powerful spell I know, "_Torik Melash!_" I spin my staff around and a great wall of flames grows around the corpses as they're resurrected. Some are incinerated on contact while others stay put, knowing the flames would spell their death if they tried to advance.

"Attack!" Erianne commands as she arms herself with her icy bow.

Sten and Alistair rush into the first wave, bashing their shield and greatsword against the frozen enemies to shatter them into chunks of decayed flesh and metal. They rush into the cornered corpses as my column wall of fire ends, smashing them to the ground to be ended quickly with swift stabs to the skull.

"Sten left! Alistair right!" I look around at Erianne's orders and barely have time to react as almost a dozen corpses of all types flank us from all sides. I spot a mage in the back on the left and toss a fireball into the group, staggering them as Sten arrives to chop two of the warrior corpse's heads clean off.

Arrows fly behind me from Erianne and I turn to bash my staff against the side of a rogue corpse that snuck up behind me. It staggers as I grab it's bony throat with a freezing touch and force ice spikes to protrude through the already cracked skull, breaking it apart. I let go and it falls to the ground, dead. "We have to regroup!" I call across the courtyard.

Erianne can't respond as she duels with three archers from her elevated spot on the staircase. Alistair looks over at the wrong time and gets thrown by a large corpse with a shield and sword.

"Alistair!" I shout as I reach out and grasp at the ice under the shielded beast to freeze it in place, the spikes of ice shooting up from the ground to pierce through it's armor and disable it quickly.

Alistair scurries back and tries to get back up on the icy ground as quickly as possible, fearful for his life.

I take no rest from the exertion and turn around to see Sten kill the last of his side with a sweeping blow that slices two archers in half at the torso.

"Get back!" Erianne calls.

I turn back towards her just as the shattering arrow hits the shielded corpse's armor, cracking apart the plate metal but also freeing it from it's icy prison. I form an arcane shield and ready myself for it's strike as it steps towards me.

But Alistair charges forwards instead, "Go back to being dead you-!" It bashes Alistair away with it's sword as it collides with his shield and sends Alistair flying across the field to land in a snow bank.

"Alistair!" I quickly cut my palm and toss the pure blood magic out to blast the nine foot tall beast onto it's back in a mild blood-pulse.

Erianne puts a shattering arrow into it's skull as it tries to get back up and the cranium shatters like pottery.

I breath a sigh of relief as the battle ends and holster my staff to run over and help Alistair back to his feet. He shakes his head clear as Erianne and Sten walk over, "Well, that was embarrassing."

Before I or Erianne can reprimand him for stupidly charging the heavy corpse, Sten stomps up and gets in his face, "You lost your footing, I thought you were a warrior, not a stone to be rolled over and sat upon." The contempt and disappointment in his voice makes Erianne and I blink in surprise.

Alistair bends his neck to look up at Sten uncomfortably, "Uh... what do you-?"

"_Pashera_! I will teach you the proper stance for shield-wall when we re-enter camp. Until then, try not to die." Sten stomps away and stands stoically on watch at the base of the stairs while Alistair blushes.

Erianne smirks at him, "Alistair, you don't know shield-wall?" She asks with laughter and concern in her voice.

He fidgets with his plated hands, "What? I never thought I needed to. I was training to fight mages, what mage charges at a templar?!"

I laugh as Erianne pinches the bridge of her nose with bluing fingertips.

_We really need to get out of this cold._

"Alright, but after this everyone tells me what they can and cannot do! I can't build a viable strategy if I don't know my squad's strengths and weaknesses!" She blinks and looks around, "Wait, where's Barkspawn?"

Alistair and I look around in surprise as well and can't seem to find where he or Levi ran off to.

_What happened? Were they cornered? Kidnapped? Wha-_

"Warden!" We turn around and see Levi and Barkspawn running from behind a few bushes near the gate. He stops just short of running into us and smiles, "You have a pretty smart dog Warden, saved my life dragging me into them bushes."

Erianne smiles and kneels down to scratch behind her dog's ear affectionately, "Awe, you're such a good dog."

He barks happily and spins around to wage his tail.

Erianne laughs at his antics before getting serious, "Ok, everyone grab whatever you see that's useful from the corpses and lets move." I grab my cloak and turn it back into my normal robes before stepping up the staircase to watch for enemies, just in case.

* * *

Everything distorts as we enter into the main hall.

"The men's morale is low. My spells are of no use in this matter, commander." I search my thoughts but for the life of me I can't name this strangely familiar bald mage in the vision.

Sophia steps from him, "There is more to leading then sorcery Avernus." Avernus! There we go! "I will remind them that they are wardens." She steps over to the center of the hall and many more apparitions appear, all of them that of wardens from ages past. "Men, I won't lie to you. The situation is grim. Our forces are out-numbered. Our bellies empty. And our hearts are sagging, but WE ARE WARDENS! Darkspawn flee when they hear our horns. Archdemons die when they taste our blades! So are we to bend knee to a mere human despot? NO!" I get a shiver down my spine as her very voice commands respect. "I, for one, will never give up! I, for one, will never surrender just to dance in Arland's Gallows! So I propose here and now, in these hallowed halls where generations of our brethren stood vigil against darkspawn and evil, that we send a message to that fat bastard! In this sacred place, proud me, strong men, stood defiant! And would rather die than submit to tyranny!"

Every warden in the room cheers out their support as the vision ends and I find myself clapping at such a magnificent speech. "I've got to write that down! That was just... just... completely epic!"

Levi smiles as he turns to us, "So brave, even when starving. And my great great grandmother stood with them."

"It sounds like there's greatness in your blood." Eri comments kindly.

Levi gets flustered by her kindness, "Oh, well. That's kind of you to say. Generations of Drydens have said that our stock were lions. Fierce, proud, and noble, but I've gabbed enough, lead on my friend."

She nods and turns to me, "Darien, sense anything?"

I look at the room and close my eyes, "Yes, the Veil is thinning the father we move into the Peak. Tis likely for the Tear to be close by."

She nods in agreement and we advance to the next room.

"Watch out!" I call as the door opens up to two lesser rage demons and an Arcane Horror. I flash a blood-pulse as they approach and the two demons are tossed back a bit.

Sten then comes out of nowhere and slices the Arcane Horror right in half with a mighty sweep. Alistair rushes in afterwards at Erianne's command and gets right up to the demons before smiting them to death, clearing the room.

"Check the side rooms." Sten and Alistair do as they are commanded as I get over how quickly we killed those demons.

I shake my head and look around for anything I could copy down for later.

_Oh! The inscription from the first room!_

* * *

"I found this on the wall back there. I wrote it down for the warden scribes later." I hand the parchment I used to copy down the inscription to Erianne.

She reads over it and smiles, "Good." She packs it away and her brow creases with worry, "I'm worried about this Tear, are you sure you can close it?"

I nod resolutely, "Yes, I've done it before. T'would require some uninterrupted time, but tis quite possible."

Sten and Alistair return looking no worst for wear, "Alright, lets move on."

Down the hall and past the kitchen I open the door to the library part of the fort and immediately freeze the three corpses behind the door solid. Sten, Alistair, and Erianne each shatter one, clearing the way inside.

_We are seriously becoming unstoppable here!_

I walk in and over to the bookshelf to find all but one is burned. I pick up the thick journal and start reading it to find it's the Archivist's.

'After hours of repeated siege of our walls the King's forces-' I jump as the page catches on fire and fade tendrils bring three more corpses back to life around us. Sten and Alistair take them down with ease as I swallow from the shock, "Creators... that surprised me."

Erianne glares at me, "Be careful Darien, you're going to get us all killed!" She reprimands angrily.

_Well that was unwarranted._

"Yeah, sorry, won't happen again." I roll my eyes as I pick up the journal again.

"Andraste's ass! Stop touching that thing!"

I rip my staff from it's leather holder and crush a Rage demon with a blast of archaic ice as it appears. "I've figured that part out already!" Sten kills another as Alistair bashes and beheads the last corpse that rose.

Erianne sheathes her bow, "Darien..."

"How would I have known that would happen? Tis insulting you would just assume I am an ignorant fool!"

She sighs, "Just- be more carefu-"

We all stop as another vision flashes before our eyes.

A female mage is pressed against a door bouncing on it's hinges, "The door won't hold Archivist!"

The Archivist, an elderly man, shakes his head, "Just a bit more time, the truth must be told."

"What does it matter? We're dead." The mage says sadly.

The Archivist stands from his books, "Our grand rebellion... so close... and to die here a stillbirth."

The mage abandons the door to stand next to him, "We never should have done it! Wardens aren't supposed to oppose kings and princes."

He turns to her, "Should we stand idly by while-" The door bursts open and a bright light ends the vision.

I shake my head uneasily.

_Man, these visions are starting to get to me..._

Levi looks around worriedly, "Another one... Rebellion? What's this about a rebellion? If only the book weren't burned."

Everyone stares at me.

"Don't look at me! It spontaneously combusted!" Erianne shakes her head in a bout of disappointment. "And if you must know Arland was a tyrant, according to the transcription I saw before it went up, and slaughtered any and all opposition that could threaten his campaign to take the throne. It noted the Drydens for some reason also." I lie easily.

_I technically already knew that part from Sophia, but adding it to an already destroyed document saves us time and being forced to deal with a demon._

Erianne watches me carefully for a moment before nodding in acceptance of my words. "Alright, keep looking." She glares at me, "But don't touch anything!"

I roll my eyes as we all move to walk to the second floor, "Whatever you say, Warden."


	16. Ice Peak Part Two

A/N Second part to Ice Peak. :) I'm pushing myself to get these out on schedule. Hope all of you like how things are going!

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

"The Tear is just ahead, I can sense the sweet pull of the Fade tugging at my soul..." I whisper behind me as I slowly climb the stairs, my staff and blood magic knife at the ready.

I can practically feel Erianne's concerned eyes burning into the back of my head when Levi says, "Your friend here is making me uneasy Warden."

"Good, then it's not just me." Alistair mutters as we just make it up the last flight of stairs.

"Bark." Barkspawn agrees with a quiet bark.

I turn to look at them and everything shifts as another vision blinds us...

"Make them pay for every inch men!" Sophia dodges and slices a soldier as he lunges towards her. "Hold the flank!" She turns and shouts behind her as the battle rages on, "Avernus, we need you!"

The vision shifts to a relatively young mage casting a spell in the back ranks, "_Nelatep obresooth sythan net bekon!_" I watch in shock and surprise as I recognize those treacherous words. The Rage demon rises from the ground and thankfully follows orders to attack the king's men.

One soldier freezes on the spot and slowly backs away in fear, "Andraste's blood! Wh-What?"

This is agreeable to Sophia, "More Avernus, whatever it takes!"

Avernus takes it in stride, and pride. His next summoning is far beyond reckless. He tries to summon a Sloth demon. "_Kaelee ai benfortus veitus!_" The Shade rises from the blood and death around them rather than his spell, forming the less-frightening form of a Sloth demon who immediately reaches out and takes control of the lesser rage demon Avernus had just cast.

"Press them! Press them now!" The Dryden shouts.

Unfortunately the demons were out of control now. The Rage demon stabs his searing claws into a warden mage and the deadly force throws her into the wall. He turns and slashes right through an armored warden soldier next, the metal melting in its grasp.

Avernus gapes at the scene before turning to the Shade in anger, "No! I command you, fight the king's men!"

The demon of Sloth turns and gets right in his face, making his dark and vicious words all the more terrifying to poor Avernus, "Fool! So much death, suffering, and oh yes... BLOOD! The veil is torn, now! Your soul is mine Avernus!"

The frightened master mage staggers back in fear and trepidation towards the only side door out of the area, "Acolytes... retreat now. The battle is lost." He turns and bolts out the door.

Sophia sees this and clenches her fists in fury, "Avernus!"

Everything shifts back to normal and we find ourselves even more woozy than before.

"What just happened?" Levi asks while holding his head. We all look up and immediately tense up at the sight of demons, "Oh no, more fighting?" Levi dives for a cabinet that seems still intact while the rest of us wait for Erianne's decision.

"Form up! Darien we'll give you all the time you need, just shut that tear!" Erianne shouts.

I nod to her in the last second before battle and throw up a layer of blood skin over my person to increase my defense three-fold. The strangely slick liquid sloshes in my ears as I bolt for the first summoning circle and immediately drop to the floor to get to work. I study the five-ring locking rune and groan as I find it's written in Demon's Archaic. The symbols mesh and spin through each-other in random intervals constantly until I touch the symbol in the center of everything. An image pounds like a heart beat in my eyes and I turn the first inner ring to that exact place on the Tevinter Archaic calendar. The ring lights up with green fade energy as the Tear inches open just a small bit further. I swear at the realization, "The portal needs to be opened all the way for me to shut it permanently! Hold them back!" I don't even wait for an answer as I lock the other four into place and dash over to the next one. A Rage demon appears and claws at me, scraping my blood skin slightly but not getting through before I kill it with a flash of Winter's Grasp.

_Ok, ok, third, fifth, second, first, fourth!_

The last ring clicks into place, ripping the Veil even further towards full asunder. Desire demons flash into existence around us, pushing the group's limits even further.

_I have to hurry!_

"RARR!" I shake from the adrenaline rush and dodge the twisted abomination's claws to pop the pulsing mesh of flesh and bone like a pimple across the floor with a well-placed fade fireball.

I look over at the group and gawk as Sten and Alistair are cornered and Erianne has changed out to her blades to duel three abominations. She slashes the head of one while diving around and stabbing the second as she notices me staring, "GO! WE'LL BE FINE!"

I reluctantly shake off my impulse to go help them and dive towards the third circle.

_Two- oh sod this thing is spinning too much!_

I take a breath and use the fade energy around us to slow down our perception of time, effectively casting haste.

_There we go. Two, five, one, three, four._

The circle flashes with another pulse of power and the Tear rips into the fabric of reality, causing blinks of the past battle with Sophia and Avernus to overlay with our own, the spirits battle with demons of the past while we struggle to hold the boundaries of the present. I watch the spectacle for a moment before a crushing sound causes me to turn and see the leg of a massive Pride demon stepping through the Tear.

_Oh by the Dead Wolf!_

I whip my staff around and throw up a wall of ice against the Tear to slow the monstrosity's advance while I start to solve the last summoning circle.

"Our hearts are our own! Take them-!" I look over and watch as I witness Sophia Dryden being forcefully possessed by a twisted Hunger demon that passed through to our realm.

_Poor Sophia... Ok, back to it! Five._

*CLICK*

_Four._

*CLICK*

_One._

*CLICK*

_Three._

*CLI- _SHATTER_!*

The ice wall explodes outwards as I set the second and final circle into place. The wisps of fade energy holding the Tear in place pour out of the glyphs and into the Veil Tear itself as it closes.

"I AM FREE!" The Pride demon stomps out of the Tear just as it shuts, pulling all the strength out of the lesser demons and allowing them to be easily put down by my companions.

"_Katara, bas!_" Sten slices an abomination in half tall-ways, spilling the liquefied guts onto the ground around them as Alistair successfully takes down the last Desire demon with a quick beheading.

I back away from the Pride demon and slip on the blood and gore coating the stone tile. "Guy- Oof! Guys!"

Everyone turns and I see fear on Sten's face for the first time since I've met him, it's fleeting, but that one moment causes Alistair and Erianne to really start to panic.

"Hold the line!" Erianne commands.

I get back to my feet and step to the back of the group as the five meter tall demon approaches, "I don't think that's going to work Eri. We have to take it down strategically!" I yelp in fear as the demon picks up and tosses a dead abomination taller than I am across the room to splatter against the far wall.

Erianne's eyes dart around the area, looking at the ceiling, the demon, the floor, us, everything before she shouts one word that defines every damn plan we've come up with so far. "IMPROVISE!"

Instantly Sten charges ahead while Erianne fires an arrow at the monster's head. "AH!" The demon raises its arm up to block the arrow, allowing Sten to swing and slice a large gash into its left leg. "RAA!"

"YAH!" Alistair shouts out his battle cry as he charges up to bash the head of the demon as it kneels down to regain its balance.

Now staggered, the demon backs up slowly, still blocking the arrows Erianne is firing at its forearm. I lift up my arms while tapping into my mana and entrap the monster in a field of frost that creeps up its legs to slow it down to a crawl. "It's open! GO!"

Sten takes this opportunity in stride, climbing up the back of the Pride demon to shout, "_Ebost issala!_" as he stabs his greatsword down and through the top of the demon's head.

The demon's mouth hangs open in a silent scream for a moment before the eyes blacken and the entire thing crashes down to the floor, throwing the frost up into the air to slowly drift down in the form of indoor snow. The demon's black blood slowly grows around its massive corpse as we all stare at Sten in shock and awe. He yanks his greatsword out of the demon's head and hops off to land perfectly in the pool of blood, splashing the black liquid all over his armor as he stands proudly with a satisfied smile. "It is done."

…

"By the Creators..." I breath out in surprise. "That... was... epic!" I laugh and holster my staff to properly bow to Sten in respect, "You sir, are a fearless and powerful warrior Sten."

He sheaths his greatsword on his back and his smile drifts into a smirk he fights to keep subdued, "Is that so surprising?"

I smile at his attitude, "Apparently so. Tis beyond satisfying that we actually managed to take down an army of demons and close a fade tear without any casualties."

"That's the Elven way." Erianne states happily. Sten raises a heavy eyebrow at her. "And Qunari way, no Humans to ruin the plan!"

"Hey! Humans are just as witty!" Alistair exclaims from behind us.

We all turn to stare at him and Sten sums it all up in one word, "No."

Alistair sighs and mutters, "We don't win anything anymore."

"I am hardly surprised, your people are soft and quick to flee in a crisis." We look at Sten and he stares seriously back at us. "Elves are also too small for large conflicts."

"Hey!" Erianne and I say simultaneously.

…

…

"The Wardens summoned demons!" We all look over and see Levi walking around the demon corpse with Barkspawn beside him as they come to rejoin us. "I can't believe it, and my grand mother..." He looks over at the dead Pride demon. "She knew."

I shrug, "The Wardens don't forbid blood magic, and why should they? Tis useful in situations such as this." I see Alistair glare at me out of the corner of my eye as Erianne steps up and places a hand on Levi's shoulder to comfort him as his world comes crashing down.

"She was fighting for her life Levi."

He lowers his head further, "I believed that my family was better than that," Something changes and he looks hopeful, "but answers might lay up ahead." Erianne and I nod in agreement.

As we walk over to the side door that leads to the back rooms and then to Avernus' tower I sense something radiating from a dead abomination to the side and walk up to it.

_It... feels like it's freezing..._

I kneel down and flip it over to satisfy my curiosity and grin as I find the rare staff, Wintersbreath, laying there surrounded by a thin layer of frost and ice.

_Just my luck!_

I grasp it and cringe as the cold bites through my gloved right hand to stab into my skin. I quickly holster it on my back with my other staff and rub my hands together to negate the cold. "By the Dread Wolf that staff is powerful..."

Alistair bashes the door open and swings his sword, slicing the first corpse while blocking the claws of another with his shield as the third he bashes with his helmet. Another slice and another bash and all three corpses are down with absolute precision before any of us can even react. "Lets move." He declares after his victory.

We step into the hallway and I immediately walk up to the hundred candles long burned out on an altar. "This is strange..." I pick up a small jar and brush off the dust to see the simple label for raspberry jam. I immediately grin and wave it around for Levi and Alistair to see, "What's this? A stale jar of raspberry jam labeled 'for Sophia *wink*', and it being awfully close to her bedroom." The both of them stare at me, "Hmm... I wonder what she was spreading this on in the bedroom..." Immediately both of them blush until their cheeks are beat red. I struggle to hold in my laughter when I notice Erianne staring at the jar with twinkling eyes.

_Ok... not thinking about that._

Placing the jar back on the altar we move over to Sophia's room and ready ourselves for anything that might be behind the rotted wooden door.

* * *

"Raspberry jam?" Cassandra states in disbelief.

Varric shrugs, "Apparently the warden Dryden was quite adventurous in the boudoir." She shakes her head and pinches the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Alright alright, I'll speed things up." Varric thinks for a moment before speaking again. "Sophia Dryden's body was inhabited by a demon that tried to forge a deal with the warden to allow it to roam the world of the living in exchange for strength and power to destroy the Warden's enemies." Cassandra's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Yeah, it seems like the only one not surprised was Darien, in fact he spoke quite clearly to the demon as if he already knew it before Sten lost his temper and chopped it in half."

"Interesting, so once again Darien is shown to have knowledge of an event before it happens." She worriedly taps her chin as she tries to put all the pieces together, "Guardian, what have you gotten yourself into?" She mutters to herself.

Varric nods in agreement while looking at the floor before sighing as he continues, "Levi Dryden now knew the secret behind the warden rebellion, and his great-great-grandmother's death for defying King Arland's rule."

"So the wardens have meddled in politics before?" She asks as another piece reveals itself.

"It appears so."

"That... actually explains a lot. Please, continue." She crosses her arms, every bit of information she's getting is pointing to the Guardian, but who is this Darien? And why does he know so much about these events?

Varric scoffs, "You keep interrupting me I might just start making shit up." He sighs as he sees Cassandra is lost in her own thoughts. "Alright, the warden's group just finished clearing a way to the tower when-

* * *

"Stop!" I exclaim as I spot the first room inside the tower is filled with books and vials.

Erianne stops to look at me curiously, "Darien?"

I stare at the dust covered laboratory in a small bit of excitement, "This is an Alchemy lab! Oh what wonders do this madman's writings hold for me?" I immediately rush up and collect what seems to be the journal of Avernus. After reading a few lines about the enhanced warden potion I grab the green vial and place it in my pack with a few other things the formula needs.

_I can't believe this thing's actually intact! Look at all these recipes!_

"Just give me a moment and I'll have everything useful in order." I state to anyone who's listening behind me.

_By the Dread Wolf..._

I run my gloved finger down the table of contents and nearly faint at the amount of knowledge stored within this one journal. Hundreds of experiments all about increasing sterilization and sanitation while also touching on harmful poisons and potions that don't affect the wardens due to the darkspawn blood in their veins!

I flip a page and blink as this one is written in Qunlat. A shadow crosses over me as I start to read it and I look up to see Sten burning a hole into the page as well, "That is Saar-qamek, a-" I cut him off.

"Poisonous gas the Qunari use, yes. Apparently this Avernus did many a deal with your people Sten, curious." I check the catalog number for the vial and grab it from a shelf to see the contents still swirling in a mysterious greenish gas.

Sten growls at it as I walk back over, "The Arishok would not part with that willingly, not without great force." I look directly at him to see he's genuinely pissed off by this discovery. "I only wish this mage, Avernus, was still alive to tell of its origins."

_I sense a finality to the 'tell' part... better not to get in his way._

I swallow and nod in agreement for different reasons, "Me too Sten, me to." I pack up everything and start to collect the intact vials when Erianne steps over.

"Did you find anything?" She asks, eager to get this done and be gone.

I nod sullenly, "Apparently Avernus was trying to find a way to-" I take the journal from my pack and flip to that page, "-to 'unlock the power within the Grey Warden blood'. His methods included unwilling LIVE participates."

"That's sick!" Alistair calls from across the room.

Erianne blanches, "Oh Maker... are you sure?"

I scowl at her in thought before opening up the journal again, "Day 32. The subject is not responding to the stimuli. Testing the pain threshold has uncovered nothing. Only three subjects are left." I pause to see Erianne swallow hard before flipping ahead a bit to the next one I remember from the game, "Day 82. If only I could reproduce last night's extraordinary success. Electricity is only a catalyst. The blood is the key."

_Huh... there's a diagram for- oh my... that is just sick!_

I show the diagram for how to properly 'prepare' the subject through electricity via nailing rods into the victim's limbs and both of them go white as ghosts, "By the Maker..." Alistair breaths in shock.

I nod and flip ahead to the next one, "Day 92. Energy and blood. Repeated applications have duplicated the results. I conjecture that success can be induced alchemically. But there are no more subjects left. If only I had one more, or a dozen. The things I could do!" I shake my head in disgust, "I hope it was worth it Avernus."

Erianne stares at me for a moment, her bottom lip quivering in shock before she speaks up, "I... can unfortunately see the benefits this... research, might unearth."

"What?!" We turn to Alistair, "Erianne you can't be serious! This, Avernus tortured his brothers and sisters in the order! Killed them to further his research! And for what? I don't see how any of this can be beneficial." He exclaims furiously.

I roll my eyes at his temper tantrum, "Because, dear Alistair, if I can finish his research and find a way to 'unlock' the secrets inside warden blood alchemically through his writings, then I might be able to eradicate the need to succumb to the calling. Or even make the joining itself less deadly! Avernus was right in his pursuit, it was his methods that damned him." Erianne nods resolutely in agreement.

"And what's keeping you from repeating his sick and twisted research?" Alistair bites out like a dog.

I hold up the journal, "This, this is the collection of results from the gruesome part, now all I have to do is translate it into alchemy and _bam_! We got the most important discovery in the history of the wardens at our fingertips!"

"You're not using any of my blood, are we clear?!" He retorts angrily. I just roll my eyes again.

_Stubborn templar training..._

Erianne sighs, "Lets just clear out the tower and finish this mission up already." She turns to walk up to the door that leads to the inner labs. Alistair and I exchange distrustful glances as we catch each-other's eye.

_Just stay back templar, I'm saving the wardens from the calling whether you want me to or not._

* * *

We step into the torture chambers of what looks like a dungeon. Ancient blood stains and rotted pieces of corpses still thrown about. I spot the blood mage himself, Avernus, as he stands from inspecting an altar in his elevated lab station. "Ah." He grins, splitting his aged skin in multiple areas, causing his lower lip to bleed. His dry and withered tongue flicks out to taste the addictive substance that seeps from the wound before it seals off completely. I see his eyes gain a bit of their luster as he tastes the one drop of blood.

_Whatever magic he's using to stay alive is beyond powerful._

I give Erianne a look that means we shouldn't try to battle him unless it's the only option. She gives me a look that acknowledges my warning while telling me to be ready for anything.

"It has been so long since I could **focus**. You see." Avernus' grin lowers as his mind starts turning ever faster, "But the rip in the Veil has been mended." He seems genuinely happy.

Unfortunately Erianne takes the hard path, "I know your crimes, Avernus. You're a monster." She snarls with more contempt than I thought one could possibly have for someone they've barely met.

I glare at her and try to balance the situation, "Please, let this be civil." I say to both of them calmly.

Avernus ignores me and snarls right back, "A monster? For a hundred years I have fought them. Thought by thought. Spell for spell, If I am a monster, it is because I must be one."

Sten growls, "This is why mages must be bound. This one is like an animal gone rabid. It must be put down." I frown at him and he doesn't even look at me.

Avernus scoffs spitefully, "The same could be said of your entire people, Qunari. Enough!" He turns back to Erianne, assuming that she is the leader of our little group. "Why are you here? What is your intent?" He asks with immense suspicion. I feel the air around him tighten as he starts gaining more control over his magic.

_This is not good... he's already nearly as powerful as I am and he just started powering up!_

Eri crosses her arms and stares neutrally at Avernus, "I'm debating whether I should let you live or die."

He sighs tiredly and my jaw locks as I sense his power double again, "And here I thought you were here to rescue me." He grins devilishly, "Since the fall of Soldier's Keep, my every breath was dedicated to keeping the Veil from being torn completely open. And this is the gratitude I get?"

I close my eyes, "We've seen your experiments..."

He clutches his fists and narrows his eyes into slits to glare at me. I don't flinch, I've gotten worse from my own mother. "They were necessary. Any tool, any iota of information that could defeat the Fell demons was justified!" He looks at Erianne, "As a warden you should know that."

"Necessary?" Alistair speaks up. "Having to relieve yourself after an eight hour ride is necessary, but there's no excuse for summoning demons!" He declares angrily.

"Charming" Avernus retorts.

I turn to look at Alistair without expression, "I've summoned demons Alistair. Tis sometimes the only way to end a conflict."

He gawks at me in shock, "I can't believe you think that. You! A-"

I cut him off before he can say anymore, "I am the son of a legend Alistair! I am who I am!"

"Enough!" Erianne ends the debate with ease and turns back to speak to Avernus, "How do you purpose I deal with you?"

He laughs as I feel his power stabilize out at ten times my own.

_This blood mage is ancient..._

"Charitably I hope. With the Veil mended, I would seek to continue my experiments in peace. Perhaps I could advance the warden's knowledge one last time before age claims me." I swallow as his words bite into my mind and fail to take hold.

_He's trying to force his release!_

I look over at Erianne and see her looking at the floor, seemingly fighting an internal struggle. I grab her wrist and the blood magic is instantly thrown out of order, allowing her to think again. She looks up at Avernus as he smirks at her in what he assumes is a victory. "No." She rips her bow off her back and fires a notched arrow lightning-quick, quicker than I've ever seen in my life.

I hear it hit soft tissue before I can even turn my head towards Avernus. And before I can notice Avernus bleeding out on the stone floor I can feel his power collapse inwards at his death. I let out a breath of relief and turn my head to see Alistair and Sten just coming out of their blood magic induced trance.

_He was so powerful as to control the perceptions of three, well two mentally strong individuals and an average one at the same time! I cannot even fathom the amount of concentration that requires._

I look at the corpse and see the flesh start to slide off the bone from over a hundred years of delayed decay catching up to it.

_Probably a lot if he couldn't throw up an arcane shield to block that arrow in time._

"Erianne?" I ask while staring down at the melting corpse.

"Yeah?"

"Next time fire the arrow before giving him your answer, never give enemies as powerful as he was time to react, always gloat after their dead."

…

I look at her seriously, "You got that?"

She blinks at me before nodding, "Yeah, yeah sure. And thanks for-"

I shake it off, "It's nothing, one advantage of knowing blood magic is being able to block out other blood mage's control with simple stimuli such as the touching of one's arm."

She sighs as her eyes catch the corpse with a disturbed look. "Right. Make sure you get to work on that formula as soon as possible, I'd like to be rid of my nightmares as fast as possible." She says quietly.

I take a calming breath, "You got it Eri."

She looks me in the eye at the mention of my nickname for her. "Thanks." She cracks her neck and adopts a look of command before stepping towards the exit, "Come on, it's time we get the hell out of here." We all agree whole-heartedly and follow behind silently, Levi being the quietest of us all.

* * *

As we step back outside and all take a breath of fresh and chilly air, Levi decides to stop to congratulate us, "You've done it Warden. Solder's Peak is safe again. That old geezer Avernus deserves what he got, if you ask me, but there was no proof to redeem my family."

Erianne stops but doesn't look at him, "Even with proof, Sophia's actions were damning."

Levi sighs, "I suppose they were at that. For so long I was focused on the past. On answers, but I think I'd be better off if I'd stayed at home."

I smirk, "Oh where's the fun in that?"

Levi ignores me, "But enough of that." This time Erianne actually turns to watch Levi talk. "I find myself at a loss. You've got a whole fortress now. I suppose I should start plying my trade again."

She struggles to smile at him, "Any chance you could stay?"

"Hmm... well, I'm no good in a fight, but I'm a fair trader if I do say so myself." He grins as he gets an idea, "my cousins have been looking for a safe place to store trade goods and the Peak will do nicely. Whatever the Drydens have to offer is yours, for a sizable discount!"

Alistair shuffles uncomfortably in his banged up and dented armor, "We could definitely use some better equipment."

Erianne agrees, "Yes, we'll stay for a day or two until your cousins can arrive."

Levi smiles, "Thank you Warden-"

"Please, just call me Erianne."

Alistair's face scrunches up as Levi nods, "Alright, thank you Erianne, for everything you've done for my family."

Alistair scowls and cuts off any more small talk, "Looks like we're done here. A demonic invasion thwarted, a warden base safely rescued..." His scowl lifts as he genuinely smiles, "We do good work."

Erianne smiles back with renewed energy, "Alright, lets get back to camp, I'm starving."

I shiver from the whipping blizzard still concentrating around the fort and flip my black velvet robe back into a cloak to try and conserve body heat, "As long as we remove ourselves from this forsaken fortress and find a warm fire to curl up next to I'll be for it. Tis freezing up here!"Everyone but Erianne and Sten bursts out laughing. I look at her as the chuckles die down and see the mark of command already scaring her mind and body. We share a knowing smile that doesn't reach our eyes as we re-enter the cave together, the only source of light my light wisps that float around us in the dank cavern.

* * *

A/N Next set of chapters coming next week! Have a great weekend everyone! :)


	17. Dryden Hospitalities

A/N Here we go! Another chapter for the story.

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

Within two days time the Drydens were settled in at Soldier's Peak, children and pets running about in the knee-deep snow and ice, trade goods stacked up by the cart-load on either side of the court yard.

I take in chilling breath as I step back into the fort after sealing up the last patches of the Veil around the outer walls.

_This place seems so much more..._

I watch as a dog disappears into a snow drift to drag out a shouting child absolutely packed with snow.

_Lively, bright, hopeful._

I smile at the sentiment and wrap my cloak tighter around me to stave off the continuous mountain breeze. "Tis peaceful... not having to deal with demons and the Blight all the time." My content sigh escapes me as I walk past Barkspawn as he and the teenagers all play out some sort of battle with snow forts.

"You seem happy." I look behind me and see Wynne walking up.

I smile in response, "Yeah, t'would be nice for things like this to happen more often." I indicate the children at play and the merchants resting from the rapid journey they had to undergo to reach the fort within forty eight hours.

"They will come back after the Blight is defeated."

I sigh and turn to keep walking, she joins me. "I hope so, I've seen enough war and death in my six- twenty three years I've been alive." I cringe at my mistake and look at her to see if she'd caught it.

Wynne frowns, "I do not condone your previous actions Darien."

I sigh internally in relief that she missed it.

_Only very close friends should know my past. Morrigan barely gets it and thinks I'm bluffing my age. I'm not._

I don't even blink that she brought it up, she'd been scowling in my direction ever since I killed Owain and knocked Cullen unconscious.

_Damn it! I still haven't apologized for that! Oh well, I'll send a letter when I have time._

I slow down so her chilled and whithered old bones can match my speed, "I'm sorry for how my past actions. They must have seemed selfish and cruel in the Tower, though the outcome was quite viable."

She frowns and purses her lips, "I will not be outspoken by a fellow mage young man. What you did was inexcusable! Poor Owain was begging for his life and you ended it!" She waves an accusing hand in my face.

I choose to not react.

"And Cullen. The Maker only knows how much trauma the boy had gone through before we found him and the first thing you did was risk his life by shattering his false reality!" She steps forwards and presses her completely frozen and slightly bony finger into my chest, "I demand answers!"

I keep my ground and take the finger full force, wincing as it buries itself in my collar bone. Though I choose to let her vent all the same, no reaction. "Say something! I must know why you killed Owain! Why you nearly killed Cullen! Why you-"

I grab onto her shoulders and pull us behind a stack of crates to get out of the wind. She falls on top of me as we land in a patch of frost-bitten grass. I carefully roll her off and flash my magic onto the ground to form a small fire and warm us up. "Oh... why? What did you-?" Wynne carefully sits up and shivers at finally regaining the feeling in her fingertips. She looks at me with the most puzzled expression.

I blink slowly, "You were too cold to stay standing for much longer, especially for your age."

She frowns, "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you."

I shake my head and bring up her hands to the fire to show the black and blue skin around the fingers. "Not with that frostbite, I'm surprised you're still walking."

She shakes her head but doesn't push me away as I take some ointment out of my pack and wrap her hands in strips of cloth. "I don't think we've formally met." I look up into her eyes and see she's extremely exhausted from the hike up the mountainside. "My name is Darien, I'm a Dalish elf from a clan that was wiped out near the Korcari Wilds." She stares at me as I continue wrapping her hands. "Just about a league east of Ostagar. I-" I frown in deep thought as this body's memories start to slip about the event, "I think I was the only survivor. I staggered north and eventually made it to Lothering where I stayed, for the time being." I finish the wrappings and focus my healing magic onto her skin first as the ointment numbs the area. She doesn't wince so I know it's working.

_Wonders of 'modern' alchemy._

"I learned all I know from Miriam, the village elder, and through her I started to heal." I feel the tendrils of magic knitting the dead or chilled skin back to normal while regrowing small bits of skin. "But in a few days I met a traveling merchant on the road while I forged for alchemy ingredients. Owen and his family were trying to get to Lothering to sell their wares so I though I might as well help them out, you know safety in numbers and all that." I take a deep breath as I intensify my magic to get at the deeper layers of her hands. She winces slightly at the tingling sensation. "I didn't think anything of it, I actually thought they were nice people just trying to get by." I pause to look her in the eye, "What I didn't understand was why I found Owen's wife in tears and pounding on my front door with scrapes and cuts all over her throat and face."

Wynne gives me a hard look and I know she knows.

I shake my head in disgust, "Owen beat his wife, so I swore to avenge her after hearing her story. About how their son wasn't hers but a human whores from Highever who Owen used to cheat on her with, about how she was more of a slave then a wife to him." I unwrap her hands as I avoid her stare, "We killed Owen, and the boy, but-" My voice goes quiet, "-he wasn't supposed to die..." I inspect her hands and start doing the patch work on her raw skin. "Erianne and I sold the cart and... celebrated in the forest that night."

"Just a moment, Erianne?" She asks in surprise.

I look at her, "Yeah, that's how we met, I killed her husband... and son." She looks beyond shocked, but I get on with the story, "Morrigan, her mother is Flemeth. And I don't mean a person who's name is of legend, I mean THE Legend herself. She kidnapped me as I slept, curled around Erianne in that forest,"

I sigh at how easily I just accepted Erianne was gone. "I lived with them for two years and they taught me everything I know of magic, of... fade magic." I barely whisper it out, like its a curse word.

She pulls her hands away and raises an eyebrow in curiosity, "I have heard that term before, in the Tower, but I have no knowledge of it."

I frown seriously, "That's a good thing, for it is far more dangerous than any blood magic the Tevinters have preformed in the Ancient Imperium's time." I fold my hands in my lap and let the small wisps of eerie fade energy gather there, "Fade magic is the use of the ancient energy, the basic building blocks of the Fade itself, as a way to fuel your magic. Far few today know of it, far less can actually wield it, and none but perhaps three living souls in all of Thedas can actually understand it. I'm luck to be one of them." I curl the energy around my fingertips to form a sheath of transparent armored claws, "It is not difficult to wield, but it requires a massive amount of energy to pull pure fade energy into this realm. That is where the blood magic comes in." She scowls. "I know I know, I'm dooming us all to a sick and twisted death in your eyes, but blood magic is simply the catalyst to my fade magic. I use it to bring my main area of expertise into this realm." I pull my knife out of it's sheath on my chest and quickly prick my left pointer finger, letting a few drops of blood collect in that palm and concentrate on them to evaporate right before her eyes as the red mist burns into small tendrils of fade energy. I play around with the energy to show her its a actual fluid energy before flicking it into the fire and blasting a burning wall of fade flames up and around the crates we're hiding behind.

"MAKER!" She gasps in shock as I close my eyes and pull the heat back into my palm while canceling it out with ice frost, ending the intense flames before anyone even notices.

I turn and she just stares at me in surprise before shaking her head, "You are a strange little elf Darien, but I can't forgive your actions, even after knowing your past, without proper explanation."

"I know, and I'll do my best to explain, but I simply wished to incite you about Erianne and my own relationship and why she's hostile to me sometimes." I shiver as the cold air slips through the cracks in the crates around us. "Owain wasn't begging for life, he begged to end his own. You heard him, he was forced into being made Tranquil! I couldn't just let that injustice stay as it is, let him suffer for one more breath of life." I lower my head in guilt, "I'm truly sorry for his loss, but it had to be done."

She sighs, "And what of Cullen? He was-"

I cut her off, "I was trying to break him out, and I did. He is fine, besides the trauma of being tortured for over a week by demons. And I'm planning on apologizing next time I see him. I never actually thought he'd pass out from the shock."

Wynne glares at me in a calculated glance before stepping past me and out from behind the crates, "You are not forgiven... but I once knew a boy like you and know you wouldn't listen to an old batty like myself any time soon."

I shake my head and step up to speak directly, "I- I am sorry Wynne, for getting off on the wrong foot. But I only wish to help everyone here survive this Blight."

Her eyes soften as she sees my sincerity, "Sometimes we must choose between those we love and the greater good. I have thought about what you said at the Tower and... I know what you mean." She looks over at the children as they play, completely oblivious to the world ending around them, "I cannot know the pain you must have felt when you lost your clan, everyone you knew and loved just gone in an instant, but we must not become attached especially now when one decision is the difference between some of us living or everyone dying."

I scoff, "War, it's always the same, no matter what universe you're in..." I look up to see her confused expression and shake it off, "Sorry, just rambling a bit. It was a nice talk Wynne."

She half-smiles, "Yes, and thank you for healing my hands. I will have to purchase some gloves to avoid losing a finger to frostbite."

I smile as she walks off towards one of the Drydens that decided to unpack their goods and open up shop for the moment.

_She's so... calculated. So... lost in her wisdom, I know the feeling._

I sigh as the last memories of Owain dying and this body's clan dying slip from my mind.

_I- I need some-_

"Erianne, what are you doing?" I look over and watch as Erianne buys some gloves from a particularly happy Dryden.

Erianne smiles, "I just bought these gloves for twelve silver! A steal!"

I face-palm while Wynne scoffs, "Dear, these are barely worth three! Look, they even have holes in the finger tips."

Erianne sighs as she sees how worn the gloves are, "I've never been good at this bartering thing."

_And her husband was a what now? Oh yes, a merchant._

Wynne shares the sentiment as she rolls her eyes, "Yes I know, now move aside and watch a professional at work." Erianne backs away with an 'oh I've got to see this' look in her eyes as I walk over to observe.

"What can I do for you?" The burly Dryden says with a brimming sense of pride as he sees an elderly lady in robes walk up.

Wynne smiles sweetly, "I would like to purchase a pair of gloves to ward off this chilly winter air."

I smile and cross my arms as she shifts her posture to look more elderly and feeble than she is.

_Always thinking on your feet aren't you Wynne?_

"Well of course! I have three pairs in stock." The merchant shows her the gloves and she starts out her charade with dropping a glove to give the impression she's nervous.

"Oh, how clumsy of me." She struggles to kneel down and pick up the glove.

The well-managed Dryden's smile grows for a split second as he quickly helps her out, "Here, let me."

_The merchant hides his smirk well, but not well enough for a well studied psychologist such as myself to not notice. Man, I never thought Wynne had this in her!_

As the merchant is kneeling down Wynne replaces Erianne's worn gloves with a hardened leather pair and slips them on. "Oh, thank you. This cold makes my hip hurt." She puts her hands into pockets and pulls them out gloveless.

_Oh you sneaky mage you._

Erianne notices this to and bites her lower lip in amusement.

The Dryden simply smiles, completely oblivious that he was just robbed and looks down, "Please, choose a pair you might like." She does and slips the other hardened leather pair on.

"These are quite nice, how much for these?" She doesn't take her eyes off the gloves.

"Oh, how about I let those go for fifty silver, a steal for such high quality leather."

Wynne doesn't even flinch, "Oh, but I only have ten. Would you be so kind as to let me have these for that price?"

_She's playing the kind grandmother trick! HA! Classic..._

He blinks twice before swallowing nervously, seeming to not know what to do in this situation. "Um... sure, sure why not." He grins and accepts the ten silver.

_And just like that the legendary skills of Wynne once again proved unmatched by the trading expertise of the Drydens._

Wynne walks over, unable to hide the grin brimming from her success, "And that is how you barter." She hands the other pair to Erianne who takes them and gawks in absolute astonishment. "Don't strain that pretty face Erianne, you'll need it for next time."

Erianne closes her mouth and blushes as Wynne and I burst out laughing at the irony.

_Oh, Wynne. Once again you have proven that old mages can and will screw with you when necessary..._

* * *

"What do you mean you can't use these Drake Scales?!" Erianne and I stop from our patrol of the area to look over at the forge and see Alistair walking away with three full packs of Drake Scales in defeat.

We rush over to intercept him before he can make it into this tent, "Alistair what's going on?" Erianne asks with concern.

He sets the packs down in a heap and groans, "Mikhael says he isn't skilled enough to work with these high-quality Drake Scales."

"That is a problem." I comment. "Well, I know a blacksmith in Denerim that would LOVE to work with Drake Scales, but he's a little... eccentric."

Alistair scoffs, "Denerim? You really think we'll go to Denerim just to get me some quality armor?" His shoulders slump as he gives up.

I cross my arms to think about our option-

"Sure, why not?" Erianne says easily.

"What?" Alistair and I say at the same time, he glare at each other before looking back at her.

"Well... we're already up here. Not to mention ALL of us need some upgraded supplies." She paces as she speaks, "Not all of our rations we got from Levi and his cousins will last until Redcliff, and Bodahn says we need still have a full cart of salvaged armor and weapons that Levi's family can't take. Not to mention the fact that all that junk is weighing us down." She stops pacing and nods resolutely, "We need to go to Denerim."

I agree, but Alistair is still skeptical, "Erianne, Loghain is at the capital. You really think we can even enter Denerim without his people finding us?" He asks worriedly.

She sighs, "Not really, but we can't really make it anywhere else with the supplies we have. I don't favor running out of Lyrium or Health potions half-way through a darkspawn battle."

"Don't we have mages for that?" Alistair mutters quiety.

I frown, "Not if you keep this up."

He lowers his head, "Fine, but lets just try to be careful? I don't want anything bad to happen to you." Erianne looks away in either embarrassment or anger.

_I can't tell from this angle._

"Alright, we'll head out tomorrow."

* * *

Walking back over to the gates from Alistair's tent I nod to Wynne as we pass each other and she does the same.

_At least I patched things up with Wynne, mostly._

"Oh, but my dear, your eyes are so lovely are they not?"

"Oh I don't know, I- I've been made fun of because they aren't normal."

_Uh... what?_

I round a corner carefully to see Zevran hitting on a girl and quickly jump into a Raven to sit perched in the tree just above them.

Oh this should be good.

"What? They are like the embers of a fire, burning intensely to warm any heart they set upon." Zevran brushes his fingertips past the girl's cheek and she blushes.

"Oh, um... is it hot out here?"

He smirks and moves in closer, "It's not too hot for you is it?"

_Oh man, that is just seriously wea-_

"No..." The strange human girl breaths as her lips part slightly, her posture indicating intense arrousal.

_That's actually a bit surprising. I wonder how he does-_

"Ariel?! Where are you my little girl?" I turn my bird head over to the other side of the gate and see a quite young human by the name of Markus Dryden who's a carpenter of a sorts and maintains the Dryden's fleet of carts in his free time.

"Oh, that's my father!" The girl whispers in shock.

Zevran blinks, "Your father?" He looks around the corner and his eyes go wide. "He looks so young! What's his secret?"

"Um... being thirty?" I nearly fall out of the tree as I hear it.

_THIRTY?! Then she's-_

…

I burst out into uncontrollable squeaks of laughter and fall fully out of the tree to land in a bush beside them.

"Thirty? Oh, then when did he have you? In his childhood?" He jokes charmingly.

The young girl blinks, "No, mommy and daddy had me when they married twelve years ago."

Zevran stares at her as he realizes, "Wait... How old are you?"

"Twelve?"

"Twelve?! Braska! Why did you not say this before?!" He whispers angrily.

_I can't... stop... laughing! HAHAHAHAHA!_

He shakes his head, "It does not matter, go! Go to your father!" Zevran orders.

The girl looks at him sadly, "But, but you were going to show me how big the fishing poles were in Antiva!"

_By the Dread Wolf! HAHAHAHA!_

"No, no I wasn't. I didn't say that. Ariel's out here!" He yells around the corner desperately.

The father runs around the corner with an ax in his hands, "Ariel! I've been looking everywhere for you!" The twelve year old girl runs up and hugs him.

Zevran smiles nervously and holds his hands behind his back, "As you can see your daughter was safe from unwanted vultures with myself as her protector. No harm will come of her while we Wardens- I must say sir you have aged quite well, might I ask is your secret?" I hold back my laughter as Zevran tries to dig himself out of the hole he dug himself.

* * *

I spend the rest of the afternoon reading in my- "Darien?" I look up from the book of _Arcaneum Zarkeic_, a bibliography on the life of the first Magister during the Ancient Imperium days. I see Leliana pushing the flap of my tent open as she steps inside.

"Leli!" I jump off my stool and hug her in relief. "I hadn't heard of your recovery, I assumed the worst!"

She hugs me back briefly before we step apart when we realize how close we are. I rub the back of my neck to alleviate my discomfort as she smiles at me, "I- Wynne said to thank you for saving my life. Thank you, I am forever grateful for everything you have done for me."

I smile back, "Sure, no problem Leli."

She looks at me curiously, "Leli?"

"Oh, uh... it's a nickname, short for Leliana." I notice for the first time she's in her armor.

_I shouldn't be surprised, but I am for some reason._

She smiles to hide her blush, "Oh that's nice, what's been going on since I passed out in your arms?"

I shrug, "Nothing special, fought some demons, saved a fort, killed a hundred year old blood mage... the usual."

She giggles, "I hope you are joking!"

I shake my head, "Sadly no."

"Dear Maker..."

"Yeah and to top it all off I had a quite unpleasant experience dealing with a Tear in the Veil." I direct her to sit with me on my cot and we sit. "I don't know how I did it, especially with that Pride demon at the end..."

She wraps an arm around my shoulders and I freeze, "It's natural for someone to feel overwhelmed in these situations."

I force myself to relax at the unfamiliar contact and sigh, "It's not that, I'm used to nearly dying every other second during intense combat." I look her in the eye tiredly, "I'm not used to seeing us nearly defeated so easily. One slip up and none of us would still be alive Leli."

She rubs my back, "Hey, it's alright, we're all here to shoulder your and Erianne's burdens together. It is what friends do, yes?"

I smile at her reassurance, "Thanks, and what did you mean by friends?"

She blinks slowly, "We are friends, I thought that was clear after that night on patrol."

"Oh, ok." I cringe, "Sorry, I'm not used to having friends anymore."

_They die too quickly to care for them._

She sighs, "Always so dramatic, lets go practice some knife work. We need to keep our skills sharp." She laughs as we stand, "I feel so silly, telling you something you already know."

"You are silly, but its adorable so I'll let it slide." I say as we exit the tent.

"Oh, well, then maybe I'll have to be silly more often so that you think I am more than just adorable..." She comments as we start walking outside up the stairs and into the fort.

_That she will..._

* * *

We stop just inside the entrance. "Alright, so what are the terms of this duel?" I ask while pulling my cloak back into a functional cowl and robes.

Leliana stretches out, touching her fingertips to her toes in turn, "No killing, I think that is clear, oh and we are rogues but I would like to avoid foul play. No poisons."

I smile at her terms and take in a balancing breath as I grab my daggers. "Your move Leli." She smiles and grabs her own daggers to dive in quickly, slashing at my abdomen.

I hop back and physically dodge every blow with a counter-strike to push her back to her side of the room. Two seconds later we separate, knowing more about each other than anyone else in our group. Her eyes flicker over my feet as I change my stance to allow more flexibility to my attacks. She notices my weak left side and attacks, lunging at me in a duel twist of blades that I roll away from and nick her left calf as a warning to not underestimate me. "Ow!" She bites her lip and turns to scowl in concentration as we circle each other once again, looking for openings.

_A dance of death I know well._

I choose an opening and roll forwards to pop up at extremely close-range, pushing her back with my quick and powerful slices towards her head. I use her distraction to kick out her legs and she falls, hitting the ground one moment and diving around to pin me against the wall with her daggers at my throat the next. "Surrender?" She asks in-between her rapid pants of breath. I myself, am breathing fine, used to this type of quick combat.

I smirk at her, "Non Leli." I parry her daggers away lightning quick and use her surprise to kick her in the gut and toss her across the room to slide into the opposite wall gently.

She coughs, out of breath as she stands back up to face me, "I though- *cough* I said not to use foul play."

I smile and twirl my daggers in my palms, "I never agreed to the terms Leli, I only agreed to the duel." I lunge forwards and she barely blocks my fierce attacks, parrying my daggers and chipping the metal as they clang together violently. "The enemies, especially the darkspawn will not abide by rules!" I shout before grabbing her hair and using it to yank her to the floor.

She twists around and trips me with her legs to pin me instead, "Oof!"

She kneels over me, her daggers pointed at my face, "Give up!"

I scoff and trip her in turn, putting my already chipped dagger into the floor next to her head, making her yelp in surprise. "We are not friends on the battlefield, not now, not when a hundred darkspawn block the only exit! We are combatants in the arena of live Leli, now fight-" I rip my back-up dagger out of its holster to rest the tip against her throat, "-or die." She stares into my eyes with something akin to fear as she tries to escape the hold I have on her legs. She struggles until she realizes my own are locked with hers while her arms are holding her up from slicing her back on my other dagger impaled there. "I- I..." She blinks as she sees she's trapped. "I cannot escape." She says in surprise, her breathing starting to even out again.

I sheath my daggers and pull our bodies apart as I stand up from her and hold out my hand, she takes it and I pull her up, "You are a fierce archer, but weak in close range where a split-second knife-thrust could have saved your life. You hesitate on the attacks, allowing me time to counter and parry."

She frowns, "But, you tricked me! I didn't think-"

I cut her off, "Sorry to push your patience Leli, but you need to start trusting less and worrying more. I could have killed you easily there!" She lowers her head and crosses her arms. I smile up at her due to my short height and see her sad eyes staring back. "If it is any consolation I suck at archery."

She smiles and at me with bright eyes before her smile disappears, "You handle yourself so seriously, I hope I can match your speed and adaptability in combat, but I am at a loss for where to hit in such close combat."

I shrug and take a step back, "Yeah, it took ten years of study with a master of martial arts to get to where I am today. Don't worry, I'll teach you some pointers on the way to Denerim."

She nods to me and her eyes light up, "Oh, Denerim? I could look and see if they have any Orlesian silk in stock!" She sheaths her daggers as her eyes twinkle at the thought. "Now come on, I want to see this Pride demon everyone is talking about." She turns towards the interior and I lengthen my stride to keep up with her as we move further into the fort.

* * *

As we get up to the area where Sten killed the Pride demon Leliana gasps when she lays on the monstrosity, "Look at the size of it! It's almost as big as Uldred was back at the Circle Tower! Oh how terrible it must have been to fight such a beast!"

I smile as she steps up to inspect the rotting Pride demon, "Yeah, Sten ran up its back and executed it before it could do much damage, but without our quick improvisation we would have been how you say, _completement baise_." (Completely fucked)

She stops and turns to look at me in surprise, _"Parlez vous Orlesian?"_ (You speak Orlesian?)

I smirk and span my arms wide, _"Quoi? Pensez-vous que je n'etais pas instruits dans plusieurs langues, ou quelque chose?"_ (What? Did you think I wasn't educated in multiple languages or something?)

She steps forwards with her eyelids half-closed and a smirk, _"Non, n'avez-vous pas pense que je n'ai ete deja attire a vous et avait besoin d'une raison de plus pour vous embrasser?"_ (No, did you not think I was already attracted to you and needed any more reason to kiss you?)

I smile is surprise and reach up to rest my hand on her cheek as she leans down to my level, "Non." Our lips embrace in a gentle kiss as our eyes close. Her lips are soft, yet firm. And she smells of the small white wild flowers she keeps in her pack.

_Tis a sweet kiss for a sweet woman._

"Now isn't this interesting?" We jump apart and blush at being caught as we turn to see Morrigan standing there, her arms crossed as she watches us. "Do my eyes deceive me or were you just kissing my brother on the lips?" She directs to Leliana.

Leliana's eyes are wide from the shock of being caught, "M-maybe we were, maybe we weren't. Wha- what is it to you?" She asks defensively.

Morrigan's scowl deepens, "What is it to me?" She looks to me, "I am his sister, little sister at that, but his sister no doubt." Her sharp golden eyes turn back upon Leli. "I simply wish to know your intent?"

"I..." Leliana looks at the ground.

"I wish to interrupt if I am allowed?" I ask.

Morrigan nods, "Tis allowed."

I smile and turn to Leliana, "I did not know you were interested in me." She looks at me sheepishly. "Perhaps we should have some time to think separately?"

She nods quickly, "Yes, oh yes, I think that is a wonderful idea, great in-fact." She clears her throat, "I-I'll see you later then? During watch?" I simple smile and nod. "Ok, then I, must, go." She rush-walks past Morrigan and down to the first floor.

Morrigan hums in amusement, "Tis amusing that such a slave of the Chantry would find you attractive." She turns and walks past me and over to center of the shattered summoning circles. "Come, we must practice our magic so that our enemies do not survive our battles."

I sigh at her directness and grasp Wintersbreath as I step forwards to take my position in the duel. We circle around each-other like the predators we are. We already know our opponents terms for the duel, we've fought on many occasion in the Wilds for practice. I take note of her stance, always her weak point and see it's mostly solid this time. She sees me and most likely sees how I have not changed in the half-year we've been apart. She snaps her staff at me in a triplicate of lightning and I match them with a slap of my own staff to redirect the energy into the floor.

Now that she's tested my defense she should see how much it has improved.

She speaks, "I am impressed brother, it seems you have become quite formidable in the months that have passed."

I smirk, "Same to you sister."

She snaps another flurry of lightning bolts towards me and I dodge them with relative ease, using my training in martial arts from a previous lifetime to match each strike with an equal and precise defense. This goes of for nearly five minutes before she locks her jaw and casts a fireball at me as I'm spinning around. A flash of arcane shield and the fireball explodes just beyond my face, blinding me. "Ah!" I shut my eyes and focus on my passive magics to see through the ash and smoke as Morrigan fires off another five lightning bolts from her staff.

_Damn it!_

This time I can't counter and have to dive and roll away to hide behind a well-placed pillar. The crackling of lightning shatters the thin layers of rocks and stone behind me as I regain my sight.

_She's not letting up!_

I growl at her persistence and kneel down to touch the ground, spreading a layer of frost around the pillar to gather at her feet, before she can fire another bolt I latch on the frost and yank her feet out from under her. "Oh, oof... Darien you cheating bastard!"

I laugh as I get out from behind the nearly toppled pillar, "Tis part of the game sister!" I grow the ice to encase her staff which she dropped to brace herself during the fall.

She huffs in annoyance and punches downwards, shattering the ice with a concentrated rock fist spell.

I take the moment to go on the offensive and flash a fade fire-blast at her feet, throwing her back on her ass to skid away and roll over with practiced precision, fury in her golden eyes. I lose myself in those curious golden orbs and fail to realize the ice growing up my legs.

_Oh sod..._

Her hand clenches and I take in a deep breath as I'm encased in ice. I don't dare to blink and look around to find her sauntering up to my icy prism with more than a small amount of pride. I glare at her and she laughs from beyond the two inch thick ice.

_Ok, lets see... the always forgets one tiny detail in these things, tis her nature as a perfectionist to miss the smallest insignificant detail._

I close my eyes and twist my left wrist three degrees north while breathing out, melting the inner layer of ice with a blast of high-intensity body heat. The water flows off of me in waves until I'm standing, soaked, before her as she stares in shock as usual. "Once again your impenetrable ice prism has been proven ineffective." The water forms into ice around me at my command, she brings up her staff to cast an arcane shield just as I chuck the ten spears of ice directly at her. They shatter on contact, staggering her with the ice shrapnel. "What does one do to kill a wolf biting their throat?" I bring my staff around and shatter her arcane shield with pure fade energy, tossing her back. "One simply stabs it in the head."

She groans up at me and reaches for her staff as I kick it away. She sighs and pouts at her defeat. "There, you have proven your superiority yet again, now help me up before my behind freezes to the floor." I laugh at her- well... being her and hold out my hand so she ca-

"Wha-?" She pulls me down on top of her and forcefully claims my mouth. I stare into her golden eyes in shock and try to push her away but she rolls us over and pins me to the floor.

A burning ferocity glows ever so brighter in those golden eyes when she finally separates and smirks down at me. "Now isn't that better than that witless chantry sister and her sweet and kind kisses?" She whispers to me as I stare, still in shock at what just happened.

My mind catches up with my body and I smirk up at her, "I have to say sister, you seemed... strangely possessive when you spoke of me before, am I not mistaken?"

She rolls her eyes and stands off of me, "Possibly." She says airily while turning away playfully.

I shake my head as I get up and watch her saunter down the steps and up to a shadow in the corner. "He's all yours..." And turns to walk through the doorway and enter the first floor.

I watch the shadow, my left hand already on my dagger as Leliana steps from the darkness with a hurt expression on her face, "So, you and her?"

_Damn it Morrigan..._

I quickly step up and take her hand, "I do not know what just happened, between you and I or even me and... sister..." I cringe as I remember how much I... felt when Morrigan pinned me to the floor. "I think I need some air."

I turn to rush outside and Leliana runs past me, anger and confusion brimming from her body language as she bolts out of the fort and away from me.

I let my face fall into my hands and just let what just happened sink in.

_Son of a bitch... I've got two companions fighting over my affections... again, I can't deal with another Omega incident. No no I refuse to let this turn into another Omega incident! I shake away the dark thoughts from another life and step down to the first floor, wondering if I could really choose between two of my favorite characters in this universe._

* * *

A/N For those of you who are French majors or know French as a first language I am sorry for the lack of proper accents. I use a Linux Mint, which doesn't allow the Alt codes for accents to work. :( I'll keep researching how to fix that but for now anything in French is only partially correct.

If you haven't figured it out yet; Morrigan and Leliana are tied as romances in Dragon Age: Origins.  
In Dragon Age II Isabela and Bethany are tied as romances so it appears EVERYONE wants a piece of Darien. ;) Thanks for all your support and time spent voting for the romance options in Drifter's Journey. :)

See you all tomorrow with ch. 18!

Also, for whomever this may concern, I am sorry but until I get Dragon Age burned out of my system I'm postponing any new chapters to Scorpio's Legacy. I know I know, I'm a terrible person, but I can't think about blasting some huge purple squids out of the sky when its raining demons and I don't have biotics. :) Just like I explained before, I'll keep working on both but don't expect another Chapter to Scorpio's legacy to come out until at least after November 2014. That way I have enough time to finish up at least the first book of Drifter's journey and have some time to relax with Dragon Age: Inquisition and get that out of my system. This might change, who knows? I might just slow down my posts for this and throw in one chapter of SL a week to even it out. ;) Just bare with me, college is starting to get to me and it hasn't even been a month yet!

I have started revising the entirety of Scorpio's Legacy's twenty one chapters on request of one of my guest readers. Chapter one is already done and up so go see it and tell me if I missed something! :)

Have a great afternoon everyone, sorry for the late post. :P


	18. Drugging an Antivan

A/N As per my schedule here's the next chapter. :)

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

Days pass and everything seems to go as usual around our little group of saviors. Morrigan and I made some breakthroughs with mother's Grimoire and we're getting close to fully translating it.

Zevran got some heat from Erianne about hitting on a twelve year old, but he took it in stride and swore to always check their age before fondling, which... seems appropriate.

Contrary to popular knowledge we actually ran out of food on day three of our five day trip. Rather than starve, Alistair and I went out hunting and I was able to teach him a bit about survival. What to do when a bear is chasing you and you don't have a weapon, what water looks like and tastes like when it's poisoned... you know, the small things. He took it all in stride, but he still despises me for some reason. What REALLY got him to knock off his attitude was training with Sten. I swear he'd have been nothing but pulp without that proper shield wall stance. Afterwards Alistair steps over and plops down next to me to stare into the campfire as I cook dinner to say, "Sten's charge is terrifying." And pass out right then and there. Ha!

_I still have no idea what's gotten into Morrigan and Leliana! They just don't want to talk to anyone but me, and only alone. Then when I DO talk to them in private they're angry as hell that I'm still talking to the other! TIS MADDENING!_

Anyways, we're all at our wits end and I've decided to just let them think about it for a while, while I help Erianne plan out our trip to Denerim. "Ok, so... disguises?"

She shakes her head as we walk farther ahead than everyone else in the convoy, "No, we don't have anything to make a convincing one. How about we stick to teams and take out every guard from here to the palace."

"What good will that do?"

She sighs, "It'll get us a clear shot at taking Loghain out! The more I think about it the more I'm agreeing with Morrigan."

I pinch the bridge of my nose, "Yes, and that is absolute suicide!"

"Just hear me out!"

I sigh, "No, yes... sod it! Go ahead, we still have four leagues to go before we reach the gates anyways."

She smiles, "Ok, you, Zevran, and Leliana infiltrate the Palace at night and find the weak points, perhaps even get a schedule for Loghain's appointments. Then we just sneak in the next night and assassinate him in his sleep before anyone notices! The perfect crime!"

I groan as I see a hundred holes in her plan, "Yes, but how would we get INTO the palace without detection? I'm a shapeshifter so I'd be alright, but Leliana and Zevran stick out like your dog at an Orlesian ball."

She gasps in false shock, "Don't say mean things about Barkspawn! He has ears you know!"

I look behind us, "Yes, and it appears he's using them to root around in the food pack again. Hey!"

Erianne turns and whistles, "Barkspawn!"

The aforementioned troublemaker yelps in surprise and whimpers at getting caught snacking.

"No snacking!" Erianne reprimands. He lowers his head and moves back to join the group in the long march.

I smile at the sight of a downtrodden Mabari, "Anyways... what I was thinking is to just act natural, like you belong there and everyone will leave you and Alistair alone. We just have to fit in."

She rolls her eyes and watches me skeptically, "Is it really that simple?"

I smirk, "It could, if you know what you're doing."

"And you do?" I detect laughter in her voice.

"I'm a master at blending in Erianne, just think about all those times you saw me nearly get lost in the crowd when we sold off Owen's crap. I'm good at what I do."

She frowns at my mentioning of that fat sack of- Oh I mean... ex-husband. "Fine, but we'll need time... to..." She slows to a stop as she looks ahead.

I meet her gaze's destination and see a caravan guarded by a few armed guards while it's pulled by an ox and the owner walks along side. "What in the-?" I look more closely at the owner and blink as I spot a balding man with a bright golden shirt on, a strange mustache on his upper lip, and his posture shows he's from the upper class. "Hmm... you think we should say hello?" I ask Eri to my left.

She shrugs, "Sure what's the worst that could happen."

I glare at her, "What the sod Erianne! Now I'll have to keep ten rabbit's feet with me just to stave off your terrible timing!"

She just laughs as we walk up to meet the Caravan as it approaches.

The colorfully clothed man spots us and smiles, "Ah, a fellow traveler of the fair lands. Are you a seeker, perchance?" He asks with just a bit too much charm.

I weigh the options before stepping forwards with a serious expression, "I am Darien Scorpio, Seeker of the Chantry, what discovery do you have to report Ser...?"

His eyes twinkle at my words and he bows respectfully, "Oh my, I did not recognize! I am Beyha Joam, a merchant traveling throughout these lands. My packs are light, but I have a tome of strange origin: The Deus vi Eternus!"

I gawk appropriately and breath in false astonishment as I remember this from the game, "Rumored to be the last message to a sinful world from the Maker himself..." Erianne's eyes widen as she takes the knowledge seriously, and quite amusingly.

"Yes!" Beyha states enthusiastically.

"Hold on, wait a moment." Wynne walks past us and up to the fellow, "Didn't you sell a few copies to the Circle Tower?"

He coughs into his hand uncomfortably, "I have no idea what you are talking about, and neither do these large men carrying swords." I grab my staff and toss up an arcane bubble large enough to keep four of us safe, "Get them!" Instantly a sleep spell slams into my shield from a mage well placed on the hillside to our left. Everyone but four instantly pass out.

"Hold cover!" I shout as Morrigan, Zevran, Alistair and I dive behind the caravan, the only ones left standing. "Morrigan, Alistair, kill these fools! Zevran and I'll hit the ones up top!" They don't protest as Morrigan jumps into her massive poisonous spider form and tackles Behya Joam to stab her fangs into his chest and turn his insides into a clotted mess. Alistair engages the other four on the ground as Morrigan recovers from the massive bite and Zevran stays hidden behind my forcefield as we slowly make our way up the hillside. Precious seconds pass and only two are left on the ground while three archers and a mage pound our advance up the hill. "_Yevarik reols!_" I shout as I cut my hand open, using the blood that seeps through to toss pure fade mist into the one mage, forcing any demon that wants in to take it for gains.

"AH!" The mage screams and morphs into a dreaded Pride abomination, the Arcane Horror. "Hahahaha!" It flash-freezes the archers instantly and slashes it's claws into the first two, shattering them as we take out positions to assassinate it.

"That is a neat little trick you have there my dear elvish mage." Zevran whispers in my ear.

"Sure, whatever, just kill the sodding thing!"

"As you wish." He blinks from existence and I watch as the Horror kills the last archer with a crushing prism.

_Come on, come on..._

A shadow appears behind it and Zevran critically stabs the Horror multiple times, it screams out in pain for a moment before a fireball flies over me and explodes its head into seared pieces of flesh and bone. I stare as the steaming corpse falls to the ground, dead. "Hahahahahaha!" I turn to see Morrigan laughing at all our reactions to her perfect headshot. "T'would seem I have the last laugh of this battle."

_Damn it Morrigan... that was... pretty amazing. Point for Morrigan._

Everyone slowly wakes up to find us with an extra cart worth of supplies and interesting items Bodahn says we could get for a mint if sold correctly, maybe even enough to pay for everyone's new equipment.

_Thank you random luck!_

* * *

We all get going back down the road and after a little while I hear some good old fashioned party banter start up in the cheap seats.

"I have a wonder Alistair, if you will indulge me." Morrigan asks from my right.

"Do I have a choice?" Alistair comments from my left.

"Of the two of you that remain are you not the senior Grey Warden here? I find it curious that you allow another to lead, while you follow." She says in a light, falsely kind voice I've heard on many occasions when she hunts her human prey.

Alistair looks at her with a raised eyebrow, "You find that curious, do you? Even with Erianne differing to Darien here? Why don't you go pick on her! Why me?"

_Oh ho ho! We've got a change in the story folks!_

Morrigan frowns in annoyance, "Tch, I only find it curious that you, in fact, defer to a new recruit. Erianne refers to an experienced mage advisor, not some sniveling imbecile. Is this a policy of the Grey Wardens? Or simply a personal one?"

Alistair looks over at Morrigan as we continue along the path, "What do you want to hear? That I prefer to follow? I do."

She smiles, amused, "You sound so very defensive."

"Couldn't you crawl into a bush somewhere and die? That would be great, thanks." Alistair is clearly not amused. Morrigan and I snicker for the last few yards as we approach the walls of Denerim to find Guards asking for whoever has seen the wardens at the gates. "Oh this isn't good."

"Thank you, Alistair, for stating the obvious." Erianne comments. "What do we do?" She turns to me.

I blink in surprise, "Wait, what? Why me?!"

She frowns, "You always seem to know what to do, well, do something!"

I pinch my nose and groan at having to decide for her, AGAIN. "Alright, Alistair and Erianne, go hid under all the crap we've collected for resale, your damaged armor will hide your outline if you're careful." They jump in the back of Bodahn's and Joam's cart and bury themselves in junk as we move up to the gates and are stopped by the guards from before.

"Halt in the name of the Regent!"

I wave fore everyone to stop, "Is there a problem here?"

The one on the left crosses his arms, "There might be, what is your intent on entering the capital?"

I frown, "We're trying to get inside the city to sell our wares. The darkspawn have been ravaging the countryside and we need to find a ship to get out of here."

He looks over the group, "All of you? My that will cost you a mint. How did you acquire all these strange... goods?" He looks over the two heaping carts of crud we have.

Leliana steps up, "We scavenged it from low-life's preying on those fleeing the darkspawn." I nod to her in appreciation.

"Hmm... well... alright then. Stay safe, the roads certainly aren't anymore." The right one responds as they let us pass.

We move up a while and into the market district to part our carts and start selling. I turn to Leliana and smile, "That was quick thinking Leli, thanks. You did great." She blushes and turns back to unpacking her personal items from the cart so they aren't stolen or sold by accident.

Point to Leliana, man this is going to be harder than I thought! They're both great and strongly independent women!

Erianne and Alistair hop out of the carts and sigh in relief that they made it, "That was actually really brilliant Darien." Alistair compliments me like I'm a dog.

"Yeah, thanks..."

Erianne rolls her eyes at him, "Don't mind him, he's just stubborn about losing my affections to you." I stare at her. "Hahaha! Oh man you should have seen the look on you're face! Haha! Priceless..." She wipes a tear from her eye and I push past her to get at my books.

_Everyone's a comedian..._

* * *

Erianne, Alistair, Zevran and I decide to go off and explore the area. Try to find missions we can do for money while we wait for Bodahn and Wynne to properly sell off all our extra gear. We pass the Chantry and I-

"Magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him."

I cringe as the old batty of a Revered mother squawks her sanctimonious BS in my left ear. "What rubbish..." I mutter as we all step up to the Chanter's Board.

_Lets see... oh it looks like those missions in the alleys are still a reality._

I take the letter about where local gangs met around Denerim and stuff it in my pack for later.

_Ok, Loghain's Push, wow they actually named it that. How strange, and convenient._

I pocket that one to while Erianne and Alistair looks over something about delivering Lyrium potions to some templar at Redcliff. "Darien, you're a mage, is this legitimate?" Erianne asks just above a whisper.

I take the piece of parchment and decipher the terribly medieval hand writing.

_Seriously its either perfect or atrocious around here. Do the common people not read and write or something? I know it's a bit much to ask but come on?! How the hell do they barter if they can't read?_

"It seems legitimate, I'd go with it, give the mages every edge they can against the templars." I whisper back.

Alistair hears me and frowns, "Hey! Templars are there to protect the mages, from us and themselves."

Erianne rolls her eyes as I sigh, "Alistair, you're templar training is showing again..."

He scowls and stomps off, Zev, Eri, and I hot on his tail as he heads for the marketplace. "Alistair slow down!" Erianne shouts as we catch up. He freezes at her voice and visibly relaxes as she stands beside him.

He looks at her sadly, "I'm sorry, It's just so difficult to avoid arguing with him."

"I'm right here."

Erianne smiles, "Yeah, it's like he's a conflict-magnet." They laugh at my expense and I sigh as it relaxes Alistair even further.

_Well... whatever keeps us from fighting._

"You know, they say you can get almost anything here, I once got pick-pocketed" Alistair comments as we enter the marketplace.

"You mean to say you will miss this pouch of coins?" Zevran states from behind us.

Alistair touches his empty pouch hook and turns to see Zev bouncing it in his palm, "Hey!" He swipes it back and moves the hook around to the front for easier protection. "Elves and their sticky fingers..."

Zevran and I snicker from behind him and smile as Erianne winks at her fellow elfs.

_You know, I've never actually thought about me being an elf here. Strange._

I shrug it off as we enter Wade's shop.

Erianne turns to me as soon as we're all inside, "Alright, do we have the Scales?"

I pat the heavy as all hell pack on my back, "Yep, now lets drop these off and get back to shopping."

She shakes her head, "No, you're the one dealing with this, I'm a terrible barterer, Zevran will try to sleep with them, and Alistair is even worse than I am at reading people." She looks at him, "Uh... no offense."

Alistair shrugs, "None taken."

I moan in exasperation and step forwards to barter, like usual...

_Creators I really need to teach her something other than basic war strategy._

Herren smiles as I step up to the counter, "Welcome friend! Welcome to Wade's Emporium. We have the finest armors in Denerim, maybe in all of Ferelden! How may we assist you?"

I swing the pack of scales around and crash them on top of the counter, startling everyone with the huge bang that echoes throughout the shop. "I'd like to make some sets of armor from these Drake Scales."

Herren stares for a moment before freaking out, "No, uh, no he can't."

I look over to see Wade walking up from his forge tucked in the corner, a curious look growing on his face as he takes in the scene before him. The splitting pack of scales on the counter, the hooded and shadowy elf standing there watching him like a hawk, and most important of all... Herren's distress. "Did I hear right?" He smiles as he looks in-between the scales and the mysterious elf. "You, you, uh- -elf- -you. You have Drake Scales?" He breathes in excitement.

I grin from beneath my black cowl, "I do, and I'd like a few sets of high quality armor made for my group."

He picks up a scale off the counter with shaky hands, "Oh my... look at this, Herren, it's **real**. Some never see a single scale in their lives!" He runs his large calloused hands over the small scale as his eyes flood with emotion. "I must make these!" He turns to me, ignoring his partner completely, "Tell the, uhh, customer, is it?" I incline my head respectfully. "I'll drop everything to work on these immediately!"

I smile at his eagerness but have one stipulation, "Ok, but make a demo set to heighten your skills before crafting the finals."

He grins like a child during... well... any holiday in this universe that gives everyone a great time. "Yes! Oh that is perfect!"

I cross my arms, shifting my body language to show how dangerous I am, tapping my gloved fingertips against my left bicep, "How much will this cost me?" I let the word slither out sinisterly.

Wade gasps, "Cost? I should be paying **you** friend. For the right, no the privilege-"

Herren interrupts him in shock, "Pay him? No, Wade no! We'll charge you-"

Wade returns the favor, "I'll hear nothing of that, Herren. This is my shop, and working on Drake Scales won't cost a bloody Orlesian penny!"

I smile at their relationship and let my arms fall to the sides, rustling the feathers on my robes a bit, "Hmm... I'll pay ten sovereigns for the first set, measured to my friend's size of course." I sense Erianne frowning behind me at the entrance. "Then if I like what I see I'll pay fifteen for each additional set I commission to be crafted."

Herren ponders this as Wade starts collecting the scales one by one, like fragile little glass pieces that might break if you handle them wrong, "Hmm... that will at least cover cost..."

Wade nearly jumps for joy, "Perfect, perfect! Think about the possibilities Herren!"

Herren rubs his forehead in slight pain, "I'm trying to stop." He sighs and looks at me tiredly, "Come by tomorrow to see your armor, I'll assume your friend is the elf over there?" I nod to him and he waves Erianne over for fitting. She glares at me as she walks by.

* * *

Half an hour later Erianne steps out from the back room with a surprised look on her face, "What?" I ask.

She turns to me, "He's gay."

"I know."

She frowns, "How? He seemed so... normal when you and he were talking."

I smile and look between Herren and Wade, "I just have my ways."

Herren sighs as he passes the measurements to Wade and walks back over, "That should be it, unless you have something else you want?" He growls out from the agitation of having to deal with another one of Wade's flights of fancies.

I bounce a coin purse in my right hand casually, "A pleasure working with you." I toss it at Herren who barely catches it as I turn and walk away with Erianne to meet up with Alistair and Zevran.

_I love bartering with dedicated people, they just love their work so much that they don't care about the profits._

We step out and are immediately stopped by a dedicated knight of some sort with a groomed appearance and harsh eyes, "I recognize you, from Ostagar, Duncan's apprentice! You killed my friend... and good King Cailen. I demand satisfaction, Ser."

Erianne freezes up with Alistair while Zevran slips around for a better ambush position, putting me once again in the center of attention. "What? We don't know what you're talking about." I cross my arms to assert my intimidating appearance.

Ser Landry looks from Erianne to me and tenses up, "Y-your friend here is a Grey Warden. One of them who killed King Cailen! I was the-there!"

I slowly smile at him, letting the creepiness of my appearance set in before speaking in a light and confident voice, "Her?" I incline my head to Erianne, "A Grey Warden?" I laugh. "Tis a joke surely! You have to be kidding Serah! She is simply one of my crew! I picked her up in Orlais! Haha!"

Ser Landry cringes and looks to Erianne in apology, "P-pardon me, Ser. You must think I'm a fool." He blinks at her before sighing, "You really do look like..." He shakes his head and turns to walk off while muttering about drinking too much ale or something akin to being besotted.

We all regroup and Erianne turns to gawk at me in surprise, "How did you just do that?"

Zevran laughs, "It is the charm my dear Grey Warden! He is charming in his speech and very intimidating in his robes, a deadly combination for persuasion." He smirks at me in appreciation.

I scoff, "Avert your eyes you horny elf! I am not eye candy for you to stare at for hours on end!" I state playfully.

Zevran smirks, "I'm sorry, what did you say? I was busy admiring your ripped chest! How much can you lift! I bet you can do a double barrel."

Erianne and Alistair laugh at my expense while I blush at Zev's advances. "Uh... no, I don't lift."

"Even more curious! I must know your secret!"

I let out an exasperated sigh as he continues to hound me while we walk into the marketplace.

* * *

"Hey Alistair, did you know that there are over three hundred bones in the human body?" I ask out of no-where, deciding to form some banter of my own.

He looks over at me from on the other side of Erianne with a surprised look, "Really? Seems like a lot."

"Oh it is, you want to know were the smallest is?" I say kindly, a bit enthusiastic that I'm creating banter.

He shrugs curiously, "Sure."

I point at his ear, "In your ear, there are tiny bones that vibrate to allow you to hear the world around you on the inside."

Everyone stops moving to stare at me in shock. Alistair stares in horror, "You mean there are bones in my ears?! What happens if they break?!"

_Wow, he's genuinely concerned... no offense but I get why Morrigan says he's a fool. An oblivious one at that, but a fool none the less._

I watch him curiously for any other reaction as I say, "Well... you go daft since they can't be healed, but don't worry they're well protected. Any blow that'll shatter those little puppies will probably cleave your head right off so you'll be just fine, no need to worry. Tis why your ears pop, there's a separate pressure in your inner ear than on the outside and when it becomes too unbalanced it pops to become more balanced."

"It pops?!" He nearly shrieks an octave higher. He reaches up and covers his ears with a terrified look.

Erianne pats his back to calm him down, "It's alright. Darien could you please leave the medical talk out of our conversations? We're already freaked out about magic enough, we don't need to worry about breaking our ear bones and going daft."

I cringe as I see Alistair seriously freaking out, "Oh, yeah, alright. How about I just talk about how to properly clean a wound without magic?"

"No thank you, please just shut up about medical stuff." Erianne states as she slowly brings Alistair back down from his hyperventilation.

_Oh great, my banter sucks!_

I sulk as we continue to walk around the marketplace, not really looking at anything to buy, just trying to keep my interesting opinions and facts to myself.

"Ah, why so downtrodden my mysterious little elven mage?"

I look up at Zevran and frown, "Well, my banter sucks and there's also the 'life as we know it is coming to an end' part with the Blight so..."

He laughs, "That is nothing to be sulking about! And I should know, I once spent an entire afternoon sulking about scuffing my boots." He comments as we follow Erianne and Alistair into the Gnawed Noble Tavern to book our rooms.

I stare at him as we sit down at the bar and order a pint each, "Your... boots?"

He finishes taking a swig of ale and looks down at his boots, all rotted out and torn from use, "Egh, oh heavens no! Not these unshapely things! I meant REAL boots, Antivan boots! Oh the smell of fresh leather does so much to the senses yes?" He smiles at me with that purely Zevran smile as I take a sip and I have to keep myself from doing a spit-take as I laugh.

"Haha! What is that? Some sort of euphemism?" I grin at him as he downs the rest of the first pint and orders another.

He covers his heart with a gloved hand and tilts his head to the side, "My dear Darien, what else would it be? I have a huge leather fetish. Or maybe not, it might just be because of my childh-"

I stop him, "Ok, how much have you had to drink?"

He looks down at his empty pint and grins, "Three pints."

I shake my head at him in exasperation, "How the sod, did you drink that much already?"

He smirks, "I was in hear a while back, while you and the two oblivious wardens were shopping for lotion for some reason or another."

"Why were you-?" I put it together and smile, "Scoping the place out, clever."

He raises his fourth pint into the air and I match it with my three-forths full one, "To paranoia!"

"To NOT getting drunk with a hands-y Antivan Assassin!" He frowns at me as I grab his drink and pass it to the drunk at the end of the bar who nods to me I thanks. "Go back to your room Zevran, I'm sure you'll feel those three pints in the morning."

He stands up to protest but staggers back to hold himself against the counter, "Wha-? I don't remember drinking that much? Wait..." He blinks as the Tetrom root takes effect, slowing down his metabolic process and forcing him to get ten times as drunk as normal. I catch him as he falls off the counter and start dragging him to his room. "You- you drug..." He mutters incoherently as his head spins from a massive hit on the subtle hallucinogen.

"Sorry Zev, but I've got other plans this evening than dealing with you for the next six hours." I carry him to bed and take his armor off before tucking him in with the sheets half-way over his body, like he usually sleeps. He passes out from the drug and alcohol within seconds.

_I'm not even going to question the morality of that._

I toss my velvet cowl into a long black cloak around my person and make my way out and into the cool night air, mentally checking every corner for any unwanted watchers before stepping across the street and up to a certain scholar's townhouse. I press my palm against the thick iron lock and whisper, "Alen elo." The small lock lights up with green fade magic before clicking as it unlocks. I pull it off and pocket the corrupted lock as I move inside, wondering if anyone was even home this time of night, or if I could change the timeline just a little bit without wrecking the Blight.

* * *

A/N As always... have a great day and Ch. 19's coming tomorrow. I'm on a roll! :)


	19. The Crystal Ball

A/N Ch. 18 for everyone! I'm really enjoying having to do one chapter a day during the week, it's seriously right up there with playing the game itself! :)

As always and on every chapter I post... Read, Review, and Enjoy the story!

* * *

"Grabbing what he needed from the Scholar's house Darien fled into the night, determined to put into motion a set of events that would possibly end the civil war, and the Blight itself." Varric says plainly.

Cassandra watches him for any indication of elaboration, she finds none, "Well?"

Varric blinks, "Well... what? That's what happened."

She folds her arms over her armored chest, not believing him.

He sighs, "Darien refused to tell me what he did that night, all I know is what I looked up with my contacts last year. Two highly influential supporters of Loghain's rule were robbed blind in the night, Bann Loren was one of them and he was murdered in his sleep, and what's even more interesting is that the city guard found strange symbols painted in goat blood on the front doors of eight houses in the city the next morning!"

Cassandra raises an eyebrow in suspicion, "In one night? You expect me to believe this... Darien was able to rob and assassinate a supporter of Loghain known only for his fickle allegiances while also robbing another noble completely blind and still have time to run around the city painting goat blood onto people's front doors?" She asks in disbelief.

Varric simply laughs, "Haha! You'll never guess what happens the next time he decides to go out for a midnight stroll! Haha!"

She stomps up to get in his face, "I don't find this amusing Dwarf. Get back to the facts about the Guardian and Warden or I'll see to it you're on the first ship to Orlais tomorrow, and you know how they just love proclaimed accomplices that betrayed the Divine herself."

Varric swallows hard as she backs off. He sighs as his mood is back to being depressed by his situation, "Darien was careful not to let his secrets get to the Warden or his other companions, he specifically covered his tracks by changing his appearance during each night he went out. That's all he told me."

Cassandra rubs her forehead in agitation. "The Guardian, the Champion, the Warden, this... Darien... Which one are you telling me caused this tragedy?" She asks tiredly.

Varric shakes his head, "I want to say none, but... that isn't what really happened." He sighs angrily, "I'm here to tell you the truth, I won't skip ahead and tell you the ending Seeker, that's just bad storytelling." He quips.

She closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath to steady herself. The last few months have been a nightmare, and now her only lead was a sarcastic Dwarf that writes romance novels. Oh how the Maker has a sense of humor. She shakes off her state and turns back towards him, now back in her authoritative mood, "Tell me what happens next, and if you waste another hour talking about some love triangle I'll-"

He raises his hands in understanding, "I got it! I got it Seeker, I'll tone down the sappy romances, but you do need to know of them to understand what happens next." She doesn't respond and he decides to just continue, the walls around Kirkwall weren't going to hold for long afterall...

* * *

I hand the crate of assorted poisons to the bartender and he smiles, "There you go, the... 'potions' you requested."

He drops it behind the counter and is about to hand me my payment when Erianne steps out of her and Alistair's room with what I can only guess is a massive hangover, "Oh, why did I drink so much last night?"

I shrug and tap the counter twice for a drink, the bartender understands and goes to fetch it. I speak up in a whisper as she pulls herself up onto the stool next to me, "You use alcohol as a substitution to facing your suppressed sexual urges towards your fellow Grey Warden." I take the pint and the sovereign he passes to me discreetly in-between his fingertips. I nod to him and pocket it as Erianne sobers up quickly.

"What?!" She yelps an octave higher than normal.

I look over and cringe as I hear my own words, "Oh sorry, I tend to rant when I think too hard, just ignore me." I take a long sip of the weak ale and try to avoid her eye.

"Uh... alright?" She grumbles as she wipes the rest of the sleep from her eyes and yawns.

"Hey, Eri?" I ask as I hear the local town crier start up for the morning news.

She lifts her head off the counter, "Yeah?"

"Listen."

"What are you-?"

I press a gloved finger to her lips, "Ah ah ah! Listen." I point behind me and at the crier as the young boy rushes inside.

"Tragedy strikes the Loren estate when Bann Loren was found dead in his bedroom and entire family vault emptied!" He takes a breath.

Erianne's eyes widen and she turns to say something, but I silence her as he starts up again with the robbery of another of Loghain's supporter's mansions in town as well as a dead Scholar's assistant found with a Redcliff knight's body in his house. The crier bolts out of the tavern and I finish up my first pint as she gawks at me in surprise, "Did you...?"

I look away and take the second pint and two more sovereigns since the confirmation was the crier's word. "I have no idea what you're talking about Eri, you should take it easy until you get over your hangover." She opens her mouth to respond but is interrupted by Leliana sitting down to my left. I turn and smile at her, "Oh, hey. Where did you run off to? I didn't see you when I woke up." Because of only three rooms being available I had to bunk with Zevran, and Leliana in the third room. Morrigan, Sten, and Wynne took the second. Erianne, Alistair, and Barkspawn the first.

Leliana smiles sheepishly, "Oh, nothing important. I was just out shopping."

I smile at her, "For shoes?"

She winces playfully at being caught, "How'd you know?"

I take a drink and subtly point at her boots, "You shine your boots whenever you're about to go shopping for shoes. I've seen some noble women do it around town."

Erianne looks down at the spotless Ferelden boots and ends up breathless, "Wow... they're so nice and shiny."

Leli blushes, "I can't help it! I love shoes so much! These are just so disgusting and unshapely." She frowns down at her shined boots.

I finish my drink and stand up from my seat to smirk at her, "Then why don't we go buy you some shoes, I think you deserve to have pretty feet don't you agree?" Her eyes gleam in the candle light and as she opens up her mouth to ask how we're going to buy them I answer that question, "I've got it covered." I tap my overflowing sixty three sovereign coin pouch happily.

Her eyes widen in surprise, "Really?"

I shrug, "Sure why not, I'm already going out to that Wonders of Thedas shop around the corner to get my old staff appraised. And Morrigan was looking for a scrying ball for some odd reason."

Erianne shakes off her hangover like a pro and stands up, already in her armor and ready to join us, "Hey, I'm in. I need a new scarf, it gets way too chilly in the mountains here." I nod in agreement and we all head for the door whe-

"Hold on young man, I'm coming with." We turn to see Wynne walking up in her normal robes. "I require some replacement tonics after treating Alistair and Leliana."

"Alright then, lets just get on with it while the day is young." I comment as we exit the Tavern to be assaulted by the strangely pungent morning air.

_It smells of vomit, dogs, and spiced lotions... such a strange combination._

We continue around the corner and just take in the morning air, quickly getting used to the smell.

You have to be able to adapt fast in Ferelden, otherwise you'll end up hacking up a lung with a sword through your gut and a fire-breathing dragon about to swallow you whole.

"Wynne, is this yours?" I look over at Leliana as she holds up a small bag of something to Wynne.

"Oh, my bag of components! Thank you dear... I was wondering where it got to." She takes it and wraps a rope around it to create a bag-purse of sorts.

"You left it by the cart with Bodahn and Sandal. I was going to return it once we all settled down for the night but I didn't want to disturb your beauty rest." Leliana says kindly.

Wynne smiles, "Oh... yes. I remember now. How age creeps up on you, and brings with it forgetfulness."

Leliana smiles back and I can tell by the look in her eye she's about to go into a tangent, "You're a great mage, Wynne, and you're sharper and wiser than many people I know. Some young ones too." She states in admiration.

Wynne sighs, "Ah, but you should have seen me fifteen, twenty years ago... the fires have dimmed somewhat, since then. But thank you, Leliana... for picking up after this old lady."

* * *

We enter the Wonders of Thedas shop and Wynne immediately starts chatting up the Tranquil running the place. Erianne goes over to the bookcases and marvels over the massive collection of novels and stories. I follow Leliana into the elevated back of the shop where the trinkets and knick knacks are on display.

Wynne joins us and searches the first table. "Hmm, jade, carved and polished into the shape of a large... oh, I see. Well, that's just... rude." She puts down the... phallic and-

"Oh let me see!" Erianne runs over to marvel at the large... phallic.

I sigh at her immaturity and facepalm as I turn to Leli, "Lets keep looking around."

She hides her blush with a smile, "You got it." And picks up an account of the Qunari to skim through curiously.

I pick up a hard leather book and read the cover, "4th edition of the History of the Chantry... rubbish." I toss it and the other three books of the set into the burning fireplace while Wynne's back is turned and step over to the shelves that hold the glass balls.

_Now lets see here..._

"Ohh..." i look behind me to see Erianne marveling over a large replica of a high dragon and turns to the tranquil with obvious interest, "How much is this?" She points to the statue.

The tranquil simply blinks once before responding in his creepy monotoned voice, "One hundred twenty nine sovereigns."

Erianne literally jumps away from the statue like it just snapped at her hand, "Oh, not buying that... I'd rather have armor... for the entire squad... in Dragonplate."

I find the orb I'm looking for and lift up the mostly opaque, four inch in diameter scrying orb. "Perfect." I slip it into the inner pocket of my cowl easily as I fix the black velvet to cover more of my face.

Leliana notices and whispers hastily, "What are you doing?!"

I roll my eyes and whisper back my reasoning, "These con-artists want fifty sovereigns for an ordinary glass ball! It's worth at most fifty _silver_!"

She smirks, "I never knew you were a thief."

I smirk back, "I was once a full-time thief just for fun of getting away without getting caught."

She laughs quietly as Wynne comes over, "Did you find what you were looking for?" She asks while watching us with intense scrutiny.

I turn to start for the exit, "Yes and no, these orbs cost too much so I'll just have a glass-smith forge one with a bunch of flasks for health potions as well."

Erianne pushes past us, "Alright, lets go! I still need a scarf."

As we exit the shop Wynne speaks up to Erianne, "Oh dear, I could knit you one if you would have asked.

Erianne fidgets, "I didn't want to assume..."

But Wynne waves it off with a smile, "It's quite alright. I just need some yarn and I'lll have you one in two days, tops."

We make around the corner and down the road back towards the marketplace.

"What about your staff?" Leli whispers in my ear.

I look at her out of the corner of my eye and just smile at her, "I realized that time and reality don't coincide completely." I split off from the group and head for Wade's emporium. "I'll be right back."

* * *

I step out of the shop, my two staffs deconstructed completely into their components and stuffed into my pack along with a few dozen freshly fired flasks Herren had in stock and a smile on my face.

_I almost forgot a small technical detail from Dragon Age Inquisition I heard was rumored to be added... component crafting._

I smile happily and look around the market to spot the girls over by the Orlesian imports stand.

"Erianne? Wade finished your armor." She smiles and runs off with Wynne towards the Emporium.

"What happened to your staffs?" Leli asks with a raised eyebrow at my empty back loops.

I look at the colorful silks on display and discreetly speak back without letting the merchant know my little secret, well... ONE of my secrets. "I'm going to build my own with components and enchant it with Sandal's help." She nods in surprise and we go back to shopping.

_Tis about time I have something that is purely my own. Hmm... maybe I can wrap the staff in Drake Skin? That might add additional fire protection. Oh I love crafting!_

We move around the market and eventually make it to Cesar's stand where I spot a particularly interesting book. _The Noladar Anthology of Dwarven Poetry._ I flip through a couple pages and grin as I read a dwarven rendition of Dr. Seuss. I laugh as I read about a drunken dwarven ballad.

"What do you have there?" Leli asks curiously as she peeks over my shoulder.

I hand her the book, "Read this."

She reads and her face lights up with hilarity as she does until she bursts into giggles, "Oh how cute! Oh this would be perfect for a little boy or girl!

I hand a sovereign to Cesar for the book, "That's what I thought." She hands me back the inch thick book and I put it in a secret pocket in my robes, "You never know when you might need a silly poem to lighten the mood."

* * *

An hour or two later we make it back around to the Orlesian stand as they're getting a new shipment. I find a strange hat with a feather and exquisite embroidery along it's elliptical rim for two hundred sovereigns and immediately hand it back to the merchant.

"I found them!" Leli shouts.

I cringe at her high-pitched _eek_. "Found?"

She turns to me to show a pair off red velvet shoes with delicate tapered heels and a burgundy bow across the toes that themselves were embroidered in blue fabric. "Oh, aren't they lovely?"

I blink at them as she hugs them to her chest and sighs, "Alright Leli." I turn to the saleswoman, a well-dressed woman with A LOT of make-up on. "How much for the tapered burgundy shoes?"

"Oh and this dress here is perfect with them!" I close my eyes and sigh as I turn to see Leli holding up a burgundy velvet dress with blue embroidery and the symbol of an unknown noble woven into the hem of the neckline.

I turn back to- "Oh! This hat and gloves just complete the set!"

I groan and turn to see her holding up a large hat with a jeweled blue flower broach pinned at an angle and some red leather gloves embroidered with golden-blue silk.

_Well... she WOULD look stunning with all that on... I guess._

I look to the now-smiling saleswoman and cross my arms, ready to barter. "How much for the full set?"

She blinks and coughs before frowning, "I... cannot speak common-dog well."

_Common do- Oh! She's Orlesian! Wait..._

I inspect her face and see indications of a hard life before this one, she was either a maid or actually from Ferelden, either way she'd know common due to her proximity to guests during visits or foreigners in Ferelden.

_Especially if she was indeed a merchant in a foreign lands._

I smile at her, _"Aucun probleme, je sais que de nombreuses langues. Je tiens a ne pas payer plus de cinquante souverains." _(No problem, I know many languages. I wish to pay no more than fifty sovereigns.)

Her eyes widen and she swallows at being unable to use the language barrier to get a better price. "Oh, um... ok how about twenty Orlesian gold?" She states with a slight smirk.

_Oh you are clever... but I'm better. Mother would kill me if she found out I could fall for such a simple trick.  
_

"Leli? How much is one Orlesian gold coin in common currency?" I ask without turning my head as I wish to watch the merchant's reaction.

"Oh, um... I believe its one gold coin to five soveriegns, or at least it was the last time I was traveling." She responds without looking over as she admires the outfit.

I smile as the merchant swallows again, "Thank you Leli."

The saleswoman sighs angrily, "Fine! I'll stop trying to mess with you, obviously you're more intelligent than the average Ferelden dog-lord."

"Oui." (Yes) "But I feel a bit insulted by your trickery, now I wish to buy the entire outfit for thirty sovereigns."

She frowns and purses her lips, "The dress alone is worth sixty. I canno-"

Leli steps up and scoffs, "You expect us to buy a ten year old dress for full price? You are quite mistaken madam."

I smile at her, "Thank you Leli, now what is it going to be? I believe breaking even would do your stand some good, especially since this is Ferelden, not some posh trading port in Antiva. You get caught screwing over a noble here, you get executed publicly, not assassinated in secret." I fold my arms and let the fact that my eyes are hidden under my hood add to my intimidation.

She groans and accepts our deal, "Fine! This place smells as disgusting as that dress is sure to be within a week. Take the worthless outfit then! Take it and be away with your stench!"

I take my decoy coin purse and toss it at her, she yelps as it hits her in the chest and staggers her back, "Say hello to the Empress' behind yes? I'm sure you'll be kissing it back in Orlais for the next century or two." We walk away as the merchant fumes at being outdone by the 'dog people'.

_Racist shrew._

"Hahaha! That was so much fun! Oh I've forgotten how entertaining it was seeing a trader lose their temper." Leli comments as she packs up her new outfit carefully in a spare leather satchel.

I smile in agreement, "You are welcome." She kisses my cheek and I fight my blush with a quick cough.

Another point for Leliana, man this is becoming a bit complex!

We walk along until Erianne and Wynne join us and we all marvel over the intricate plates and scales weaved and shifting over Erianne's new Drakeskin armor. The dark red and black discoloration of the scales and skin makes your eye drift to her determined face and seriously bright eyes. The entire thing is wonderfully crafted and Wade even made her Drakebone Bow to match. The only question I asked after she finished her explanation was, "How long until he can make another?!"

Erianne looks at me sadly, "Sorry Darien, but there was only enough scales left to reinforce Alistair's armor. If we're going to have a squad fully outfitted with Drake armor we'll have to go dragon hunting."

I sigh as I realize I actually don't know anything about armor crafting and had just assumed two Drakes would give us two full sets off armor, "Alright, we found a dress for Leliana. And I procured those flasks so Wynne, we're going to be stuck at the inn for a few days brewing a few sets of potions, maybe even some poisons if Zevran feels up for it."

Wynne nods, "I picked up a few bushels of elfroot and spindleweed just in case. Meet me in room three tonight."

"You got it."

* * *

"You are not religious, yes? You do not believe?" Leliana asks out of the blue as we walk back to the tavern.

"I hope that isn't directed at me." I turn to her and see her staring so I sigh, "Not entirely, tis useful in a crisis but only so. Why?"

She looks ahead and smiles, "Oh, nothing. You are just a very good person, and it shows, and I thought at first you were a criminal."

I blink, "Excuse me?"

She fidgets, "I-I didn't mean it like that." She slows her steps and I join her further back from Erianne and Wynne up ahead, "Erianne ran a tight ship before you showed up. To disobey was to be left behind." She leans in to whisper, "She was a bit of a bitch."

Erianne turns around, "Sorry, did I just hear wind in my ears?"

I clear my throat and smile, "Oh nothing Eri, tis simple banter."

She turns back and keeps walking, "Good, lets get back and regroup at the tavern, we need to decide our next destination. Oh and Bodahn finished selling off our salvage early."

"Do I want to know how much we got?" I ask worriedly.

She smiles at Wynne who sighs and turns to talk directly, "We were able to make a hundred sovereigns off of Joam's cart alone, and another sixty off of our own salvage. It appears ancient Grey Warden armor is a favorite collector's item in Orlais."

We watch her as she pauses to mentally count up the coin, "We have just over one hundred forty sovereigns."

…

"By the Dread Wolf..." I breath in shock as we step into the tavern and all go our separate ways for the evening.

* * *

Hours later, and after Wynne and I set up the brewing station in her room, everyone gathers in Erianne's room to figure out where or what we were going to do next.

Erianne stands from her seat next to a table at the center of the room and addresses her companions around her, "Alright, now that everyone's here we can begin." She crosses her arms over her newly armored chest as she realizes Darien and Leliana aren't in the room. "Could someone go get Darien and Leliana?"

Morrigan is the first to stand, "I'll go find them."

* * *

"Look at what that woman is wearing. Is she drunk, or just have bad taste?"

I look over at the specific woman and laugh as I see she's wearing her dress inside out and she's covered in stains. "I have no clue, and by the states her hair is in neither does she."

Leli giggles at my admission as I notice Morrigan standing in the doorway. She frowns at me and I can sense I'm forgetting something. Not remembering what I read her body language and-

_Oh sod it all..._

I whip my head around to Leliana, "Leli we're late to Erianne's meeting."

She turns to stare at me in surprise before we both run with Morrigan into her room and sit down near the center table.

"Nice of you two to join us." Erianne comments off-handedly.

I try to explain, "Sorry, Leli and I were just-" I look at her and smile, "-doing something to better hone our perceptive skills."

Morrigan scowls from her position near the exit and speaks in a scolding and provocative tone, "What, my brother, have you been doing with that Chantry sister I might ask?"

I go to speak and Leliana cuts me off, "Nothing that concerns you." She bites out in a fit of jealousy.

I sigh as Erianne, and I, have had enough, "Enough!" I shout as I lean forward angrily.

Erianne picks it up where I left it, "We are here to discuss our next phase, not bicker like elderly women around a sowing circle!" She looks to Wynne, "Uh... no offense."

She frowns, "None taken, young lady." Wynne responds with a bit of malice.

"We do not have time to dally!" Sten breaks through the conversation and puts us back on track as he stands, a permanent scowl on his face as he leans against the far wall with his arms crossed.

Alistair speaks next, "Agreed, we need to stop this civil war and unite the nation against the darkspawn." He declares in his newly repaired silverite-studded, drakeplate armor. "I propose our next stop be Redcliff. We need Arl Eamon's support!"

I sigh as he brings up Redcliff again, "Alistair-"

He cuts me off, "No, I know what I'm talking about! Erianne, tell him!"

Everyone looks to the default leader of our group. She looks extremely uncomfortable as she weighs the options of siding with either of us. She sighs and looks at Alistair sadly as she has her answer, "I'm sorry Alistair, but it's a risk we-"

He stops her as he stands up, completely agitated. "How is it a risk?! We haven't even heard anything from there! Eamon wasn't there at Ostagar Erianne. He still has all his men! I was a personal friend to him! He thought of Cailen like a brother! We need his support!"

I frown at his stubbornness and let someone else deal with it as I fold my hands in my lap to watch. "We don't have any way to ensure this Arl Eamon will support us." Wynne declares, right on spot.

I speak up, "Exactly, without a proper treaty forcing him to help us we can't be sure he won't try and screw us over to gain the crown or even put a puppet up there he can control." I reason logically.

_Since this is reality I can argue anything I want without the 'plot' of the game messing with it. I'll use the game as an outline in the big things, but personality traits and loyalties are all up in the air as far as I'm concerned._

I sit forwards as everyone watches me, "Asking Eamon without having some leverage to hold him to his promise is almost as bad as asking the Orlesian wardens to come in with Chevaliers to 'contain' the Blight and save Ferelden. Despite the occupation being only decades ago."

Alistair scowls at me, "And what is the harm in that? Duncan and Cailen were about to let four legions of Chevaliers over the border with a thousand wardens when we were at Ostagar! We could have ended the Blight right then and there!"

I jump to my feet and glare at him as I speak in a dark voice, "And what would you think would happen to all those Chevaliers once Ferelden is secured? Do you expect them to leave when Ferelden is ripe for the picking with it's armies depleted?"

He bars his teeth in fury at me, "You sound like Loghain." He bites out.

"Good! Then maybe he had his reasons to sacrifice the wardens to keep Ferelden safe!" I bite back.

Alistair's eyes spell murder as he lunges at me and I instinctively cast mindblast to toss him and everyone else out of their seats and away from me. He quickly recovers and jumps up to pull out his sword and shield. I reach up and curse at the fact that I deconstructed my staffs before grabbing my daggers and getting ready to block whatever attack he has in him.

_Come on, lets see what you can do templar boy._

He swings his sword and I roll around to dodge his shield as it crushes on overturned chair into firewood. "Hold still!" He shouts as I dodge another swing that cuts a fine line across the painting hung behind me.

I keep dodging around him as he swings until his boot connects with my side in a fierce kick that throws me into the wall. I look up at him while wheezing out and see an primal glint in his eye just before he stops to bring up his shield and block an incoming arrow. We all look over to find Leliana and Morrigan ready to attack Alistair at full force. "Stay away from him!" Leliana shouts as she notches another arrow and Morrigan readies what feels like an hex of some sort.

Alistair growls in anger and poses himself to blast them with smite when Sten swings at him from his right, forcing him to duck and back off to his side of the room where Erianne, Zevran, and Barkspawn stand ready to do battle. I stand up from where I landed and spot Wynne doing the same across from me. We look left and right in shock before jumping up to stop this madness.

"That's enough!" Wynne shouts while she glows bright blue with spiritual energy.

I stand back to back with her and address my side of the room while glowing with intense fade energy, "We have no time to fight!"

"Their is a Blight and Civil War going on outside those doors!" She adds.

"And if we don't work together-" I start.

She finishes it for me, "-no-one in this room will survive to see the result of our consequences!"

Wynne and I watch as everyone slowly puts down their weapons. We all breath sighs of relief and sheath our weapons. "This is why weapons should be forbidden during political debates." I comment to lighten the mood, "Someone always ends up losing their head."

"Shut up!" Alistair shouts as he stomps from his side to face me with his superior height. "Loghain betrayed the King, he betrayed the Grey Wardens. If you think what he did was the best for Ferelden then go ahead and do so, but you are no longer welcome in our group."

I crack my neck and grab his chestplate as I yank him down to my eye level forcefully, my eyes barely showing from under my black velvet cowl. "The wardens don't care about Ferelden, they are politically neutral and as such they, including Duncan, were willing to endanger or enslave all of Ferelden under the crushing force of the Orlesians once again if it meant putting an end to the Blight." I narrow my eyes into slits as he takes the full force of my deadliest glare, "Loghain is doing what's best for **Ferelden, not** what is best for **Thedas**. I don't give a hairy rat's ass if you think we can't end the Blight and Civil War without killing him for quitting the field!" I point at the only exit behind me, "He is right now out there pushing to do whatever it takes to do exactly what we're trying to do, but he's doing it **without the Grey Warden Treatie****s!" **I snarl out the next words, "Therefore he has to employ extreme measures! It's basic military strategy!" I pause to see the fright in his eyes and lower my voice a bit, "I don't agree with any of it, and I am truly sorry for what happened to the Grey Wardens, tis tragic." I raise my voice again, "Butat the time of Ostagar the best thing for Ferelden was to **not** force the last viable army loyal to the crown to be slaughtered just to satisfy the whims of a sterile dim-whitted King and an outsider Grey Warden Commander when the Orlesians are about to break out into civil war over whether or not to reclaim their lost territory! Mainly Ferelden!" I pant in and out from my furious speech and shove him onto the floor to point at him accusingly, "You are no Grey Warden if you believe for even the slightest second that I'd willingly take part in Loghain's plans! Nor are you any son of Maric if you don't see how much Loghain has struggled to keep order during all of this chaos." He stares at me, completely speechless as I break my glare and look apologetically to Erianne for my outburst.

She smiles weakly and looks down at Alistair, avoiding my gaze. "Alistair, he's right. I _hate_ that he is, but if we can get Loghain to back down from the Regency we can end the Civil War and build up our combined forces against the Blight in no-time!"

_Wait, what?_

I look at her in surprise for a moment before just nodding in agreement. "Uh... yeah, that was my point."

_It seriously isn't, but getting Loghain to back off is pretty much a brilliant idea if we can find a way to pull it off._

Alistair sighs tiredly and stands up to walk up to the exit and shove it open while muttering, "I'll be at the bar."

"He's pretty downtrodden. Erianne, why don't you go comfort him while we clean up." We all nod in agreement with Wynne and start picking up the shattered pieces of furniture as Erianne leaves to be with her undeclared boyfriend.

_I'm so sorry Alistair... but you had to know what I felt, and unfortunately I feel as if the Grey Wardens DID betray the King, not in the way the public understands, but in a way only great generals or lifetime soldiers like myself understand._

"What did you mean by 'son of Maric'?" I look up and see everyone watching me, waiting for an answer.

_Oh... crap... I really did just let that slip out didn't I? _

Wynne's brow creases in thought, "Yes, I remember hearing that in the Tower, you asked him who his father was as we awoke from the Sloth demon's hold and he said his father was Maric. I thought I had heard him wrong." I cringe.

_Well, well, well. It seems that I've fucked up twice now, great._

I look around me as they all gather, trying to look for answers. I sigh and rub my forehead as a headache finally erupts. "How about you ask him yourself?"

"He's not available." We turn to see Erianne stepping back into the room.

"How is he?" Leliana asks.

"He refuses to respond to anything I have to say." Erianne glares at me.

I wince as everyone looks back to me, "Look, I'm not even supposed to know!"

"Just tell us, we deserve the right to know." Zevran declares while scowling at me. "Especially after you drugged me..." Zevran mutters afterwards.

"I..." I shrink down, making them all look like giants, especially to an elf like me.

_Can I tell them? What will happen if I do? Oh Creators..._

"I..." I can't get myself to decide and start fidgeting.

"You shouldn't keep secrets from us brother." Morrigan says lightly while smirking at me.

_She's enjoying this..._

"I..."

* * *

A/N Cliffhanger! Sorry, you'll just have to wait 24 hours. :)

Again, wrong punctuation with the French bit I know. I'm working on it.

Alright, I haven't been getting that many reviews lately (None for about ten chapters I think) so I have to ask... how's the story doing? What's good, what's absolutely horrendous? I am not doing well just stewing here without your feedback! I won't know if I'm doing anything awesome by looking at the views/hour charts! I need input! :)

And as always have a wonderful day!

Also you can find _The Noladar Anthology of Dwarven Poetry _on a table behind Cesar in the Denerim Markets in Dragon Age: Origins. I play through the game to get the contexts of my story right and just happened across it while mapping out the shopping scene. I read a few lines and just HAD to add it in. Haha! It really is a Dwarven version of Dr. Seuss' work. Go ahead and read it in the codex if you don't believe me. ;)


	20. Beginning of Something Strange

A/N I'll be posting one chapter now and another tomorrow afternoon to get back on track. Had to write a book report and ran out of time yesterday. :/

Anyways, for everyone that loves Dragon Age as much as I do... Read, Review, and Enjoy! :)

* * *

"It all boiled down to one truth, Darien wasn't normal, and he somehow knew more then he let on. Days passed and he slowly lost more and more support the further he kept his secrets from the group." Varric raises his hand to indicate an interesting note, "Even Leliana and Morrigan were beginning to drift away when he finally sat them all down and told them about Alistair's father, Maric Theirin, the first King of Ferelden after the Orlesian occupation and best friend of Loghain Mac Tir." He watches Cassandra and sees her solid stare acknowledge her knowledge of Ferelden's rulers. He sighs as he remembers the strange way Darien explained it, "He explained this part as, 'Plucking the strings of fate that we all drift upon.' I don't exactly know how he did it, but he convinced them all to head south after day four." He sits up and watches the Seeker intensely, "I apologize Seeker, but I have to ask, Why would you want to hear me recite the Warden's tale? Didn't the Left hand of the Divine herself travel with the Warden?"

Cassandra shifts her weight to the other foot and watches him in silence for a moment, trying to sum up why she thinks she was sent here truly. She opens her mouth to answer and a crashing boom sounds in the distance only to be muffled by the thick stone walls around them. They both look up at the shaking chandelier as the expensive crystals lightly clink against each other. A soldier sporting dark brown and black Seeker plate armor runs inside and hands her a status update. Her dark eyebrows crease in deep thought as she scans it for any outlying problems or issues she needed to attend to. Seeing none she tosses the piece of parchment into the nearby fireplace and turns to the soldier with determination brimming in her eyes, "Hold them off for as long as you can, I require more time to finish my..." She looks over at Varric as he turns his head to try and hear the shouting in the distance. "...interrogation." The soldier nods and salutes her in respect of her command before rushing back out and into the main rooms of the estate.

"Trouble, Seeker?" She turns to look at him as he smirks at her sadly. "Because if time has already ran out I could give you the abridged version."

She shakes her head, "No, I want to hear the whole story, as you said, I must know what happened to the Guardian."

"And Champion." Varric reminds her.

She nods, "And the Champion." She shuts the door and closes the blinds to block out the events transpiring beyond the thick walls.

"Alright, where were we?" Varric taps his chin and hums before snapping his fingers, "Oh right, I was about to update you on the Champion." He clears his throat as she leans against the wall next to the fireplace. "The Champion's group made it to Gwaren like I said and took ship. They sailed north across the Waking Sea, lashed by terrible storms." He raises his hands into the air, "Waves five times the height of the sail and winds that could rip the ship to shreds." He lowers his hands and looks into the fireplace as he remembered how Garrett described that journey. "It rained almost constantly." He leans back to look at her, "Two weeks they spent I that dark hold, packed in with the fearful and the desperate. Disease struck them like an earthquake, killing the weak and starvi-"

"Hold on one moment," She crosses her arms, "What is an 'earthquake'?" She asks in confusion.

Varric smiles, "Oh nothing special, just something Darien used to say to scare the living shit out of the local drunks. I thought it sounded like some sort of spell, but boy was I wrong. Apparently it's when these massive pieces of land under out feet crash into each other in such a forceful way that the ground splits open and the entire land shakes for a few minutes." He shakes his head, "I have enough to worry about without adding 'the ground might split open at any second' to my list."

Cassandra sighs, "Alright, continue. My curiosity has been sated... for now."

"Hmph. Getting back to the tale, disease struck them like and earthquake," He pauses to shake his head, "killing the weak and starving, the old and feeble. By the sixth day less than half of them were still alive. All hope seemed completely lost..." He pauses for dramatic effect. "And then they saw it: Kirkwall, the city of chains. Long ago, it was part of the Imperium, slaves coming from far and wide to work the quarries. I'm sure you know of the Bone Pit's history in particular Seeker." Cassandra nods her head quickly to show she does indeed know the legends of that cursed place. "Now it's a free city." He snorts a laugh, "But I use the word loosely. Sail through those black cliffs and you'll see what the slaves of old saw: the Gallows, welcoming you."

She stops him at the height of her impatience with a quick lunge forwards to shout in his face, "I'm not interested in a history lesson dwarf!"

He holds up his hands in defense, "I was simply painting a picture for you Seeker. The Champion's group have to be shown as desperate for safety as any other refugee in that situation." Cassandra backs off and releases Varric's coat from her iron grasp. He brushes the invisible lint off before continuing, "Anyways, that's where their ship landed with all the rest..."

* * *

The squawking of the seagulls overhead wake Carver and Garrett from their slight nap. Garrett looks up worriedly as the crew running the ship up above start shouting to each other in a strange language he can't recognize.

_Either we finally made it or they've met up with a slaver's convoy to sell us off as cattle._

He sighs and looks across from him in the dark hold to see his sister and mother leaning against each other in their slumber.

_We are so lucky we made it this far. Without Flemeth and, I hate to admit it, Darien we'd have been swallowed up by the darkspawn within a few moments._

Carver yawns next to Garrett and nearly punches him in the face as he stretches, "Watch it Carver, we're sharing space so keep your hands to yourself."

He frowns but ignores Garrett as he goes back to watching Bethany and Leandra like the Hawke he is.

"Well, good, you're finally awake. I was beginning to worry." Aveline comments as she leans against the support pillar in the middle of their section of the hold. Garrett smiles worriedly at her in response.

_She chose to stand throughout most of the trip to keep other's comfortable. An admiral decision, if a bit foolish. She's more worn out then all of us combined._

Merely feet away, but eons apart from the rest, Bethany's dreams drift to Darien as they always do when she naps. The authoritative yet comforting way he gave orders, his inability to care whether someone died in front of him or not, the serious toll his last life in the Dalish scarred him... Bethany's lips twitch upwards in her slumber as she relives the first days they trained in the forest...

* * *

"Bethany?" She shifts immediately into alertness as she senses her name. She searches the dark hold for threats before a gentle hand rests on her shoulder and she looks up into the sharp blue eyes of her mother, "Come on Bethany, the ship landed! We're here."

Bethany rubs the last bits of sleep from her eyes and jumps up to stretch briefly in a precombat exercise Darien taught her. Touching her fingertips to her ankles and toes while bending her spine just enough to get all the pops out. Afterwards she quickly shakes and combs through her matted and greasy hair with her fingers and grimaces at the terrible smell.

_Ooh, I need to bathe... soon..._

She sighs in disappointment at her hair as she follows her family and Aveline to the top deck. "Alright, I'm ready. Lets get this over with." She shifts her personal pack around, careful not to knock out the pieces of her staff she and Garrett had to disassemble to avoid suspicion.

_At least his was already busted from that second Ogre we encountered. Now he gets a new one and I just get to keep my cheap walking poll from Lothering._

"Get a move on! We haven't got all day!" The Captain shouts from above them. Bethany cringes at his voice.

I really wish Darien was here, he would know how to avoid keeping my 'promise' to the fair captain. I can only dodge his advances so many times before he gets REALLY mad. Oh... where are you Darien?

Bethany covers her head in a sheet and ties it to her robes to look just like the dozen other elderly women that somehow made it through the journey. "I hope this works..." She mutters as she steps up onto the top deck. She looks around only to wince and cover her eyes at the bright light as she follows the unmistakable outline of Garrett.

_Just keep walking..._

She alters her steps to match a limp a young woman who died after the first week had as she paced the length of the ship. It works as the vigilant Captain simply walks by her as she steps off the landing ramp and onto solid ground. She follows Garrett around the corner and out of sight as they blend into the edge of a large crowd.

_Phew... too close. I've really got to watch which promises I make._

She packs the sheet back with her belongings and sighs in relief that they were finally here.

"We finally made it." Garrett breathes in relief as his watchful eye roams the crowd.

Bethany's thin eyebrows crease in worry before she subdues them to show no emotion, "Yes, but for how long?" She asks.

Leandra frowns at her admission, "Bethany, don't say things like that!"

A flash of red hair catch everyone's attention as Aveline turns back from the crowd to address the group, "She's not wrong, they're not letting anyone into the city."

Leandra watches her in shock, "What? That can't be!" She says in dismay.

Aveline points to the crowd, "It's true, look at them all."

They all look over the crowd as best they can to see a row of armed guards holding them back from going any further into the complex.

Carver turns to his mother, "Are we really surprised? Everyone's fleeing the Blight, just as we are."

Bethany looks down sadly, "Darien didn't flee..." She mutters to herself.

Aveline scowls at the sight, "And they would throw us all back to the wolves. Unbelievable."

Garrett smirks tiredly, "I'm only surprised they let us dock."

Leandra pushes to continue on, "We need to find Gamlen. Our family has always been highly regarded in Kirkwall. He can do something. I'm sure of it!"

Bethany sighs, "And if he can't? What will we do then?"

Carver catches her eye and shakes her head in disapproval before turning to Leandra, "Lets hope he received your letter."

"The guards seem to be reporting to that man." Aveline states coolly as she points to a guard in the center of the row. "We should speak with him about entering the city." No-one responds with anything but a nod. The trip was hard on all of them, Aveline the most. The Hawkes lost their life in Lothering, Aveline lost her husband, a life partner, and her love. Nearly nothing is so cruel to compare to losing someone you love so quickly. There wasn't even time to pray for him.

And so they all followed Garrett's lead through the crowd, gently pushing through the dozens if not hundreds of people who came to the city for refuge from the Blight only to be shut out and denied entry. As they approach the wall of guards the leader of the group, a man with pale blond hair and an exhausted look to him steps forwards to stop them, "Get back to the crowd, you lot. Trying to bully your way through won't get you into Kirkwall any faster."

Aveline ignores the man's weary look and speaks up angrily, "But you **do** intend to let us in?"

The guard huffs out a chuckle, "Ha! We have enough poor of our own in the Free Marches. We don't need you refugees piling up here like a middens heap!"

Garrett speaks next with something he overheard in the crowd, "I heard someone call this fortress the Gallows. Is it a prison?" He barely catches Bethany rolling her eyes out of the corner of his own.

The guard shrugs, "Used to be, back in the Imperial days." He subtly waves to a golden statue of a crying slave in the corner and Garrett turns to observe it. "They kept slaves here until the rebellion. Now the templars run it and use it to lock up mages." Both Garrett and Bethany instantly stiffen. "Guess not much has changed." The guard rubs his head in mild pain from the headache this whole situation was.

Garrett reluctantly continues, "Unfortunately we need to get into the city. There must be someonce in charge we can speak with." He insists.

The guard sighs without opening his eyes, "Yes, yes, always the same story." He looks at them while pointing his thumb behind him and down the dark corridor, "You want in, talk to Captain Ewald. I'm just here to keep you refuse from climbing the walls."

Garrett takes lead and steps down the corridor, weary of the new information that the templars ran this former prison. "Bethany, if it comes to violence just let Carver, Aveline and I handle it. No magic, not here."

Bethany frowns at him, "You don't say? And I was about to toss a fireball into that crowd back there on impulse to quiet down their incessant ramblings." Garrett rolls his eyes in response.

"Tell me, how did your family escape Lothering? Almost everyone who hadn't fled..." Aveline speaks to the group, surprising many of them.

Carver decides to answer her, "My brother. If he wasn't with us. I don't think we'd be here."

Garrett turns his head to look at them with a raised eyebrow, "I'm standing right here. And Darien did more than I ever could on such short notice."

Bethany smiles, "Exactly, Darien pushed us to stay calm under pressure and fight back the darkspawn until we finished packing." She clarifies for Aveline happily, disturbing her a bit by the sudden shift in attitude.

They continue on in silence until they enter a large courtyard that's surprisingly empty for the most part. Garrett looks around at the tapestries and statues of templars in the early Chantry days to cringe at how foreboding and intimidating they are.

"We are not animals you can just coral!" The Champion's group moves towards the large gathering of mercenaries as the Captain of the Guard addresses the issue.

"We're no intention of keeping anyone here, serah. You're all going hack where you came from." Captain Ewald states as calmly as possible.

The leader of the group scowls, "My men and I fought against the Blight. We're heroes!"

Ewald doesn't bat an eyelash, "Deserters you mean, it doesn't matter. Kirkwall has no more room for anyone." He turns to spot Garrett's group as he walks up.

At this point the lead mercenary is livid and shoves his finger in Ewalds face forcefully. "Let us through, you faming blighter! We're not staying in this pit!"

Bethany looks around and sees that every one of the mercenaries were wearing the same plate armor with blank leather coverings.

_Strange, not many mercenary companies hide there emblem._

Ewald frowns lazily, "Then get back on you ship and leave. Kirkwall has no more room for refugees." He repeats himself for what seems like the ten thousandth time.

The right hand of the mercenaries speaks up desperately, "The ship's already gone! We paid good coin to get here!"

Ewald simple sighs tiredly, "You and half of Ferelden, There's nothing I can do! The city is full!" Ewald raises his voice for the first time to show he isn't backing down any time soon.

Bethany speaks, "You must be letting some in." Her voice is barely able to stay neutral with all of her pent up emotions from the stress of the situation.

Garrett nods in agreement, "You wouldn't be out here if nobody could enter."

The leader of the mercenaries agrees, "That's right! We're seen you let lots of people through!" He declares angrily.

Ewald rubs his forehead and clarifies, "Citizens and merchants that make it worth our while." He turns to Garrett, "I'll assume that you don't have anymore coin than these gentlemen?" Garrett doesn't answer, but Ewald can see his answer in the silence. "We've been letting you Fereldens in for months." He scowls and turns to address the heavily armed and desperate mercenary company, "You're too late. There's no. More. Room."

Carver jumps up to the front, "But we've got family here!"

Ewald watches the boy tiredly, "I've heard claims like that a thousand times already. Trust me. We'll find some ships to take you all back to Ferelden, eventually."

Bethany scoffs and whispers, "Well that sounds promising."

Ewald doesn't hear, "Until then, you stay here."

Aveline folds her arms defiantly, "Wouldn't you rather we left?"

"If you find our uncle, Gamlen Amell, you might just have a few less refugees bothering you." Garrett reasons smartly.

"Gamlen. I know that name..." He rubs his chin as he remembers the drunken ex-noble.

Carver speaks up hopefully, "He's a nobleman here in the city. Our family has an estate."

Ewald nearly chuckles, "A nobleman? The only Gamlen I know is a weasel that couldn't rub two coppers together." He shrugs with disdain, "He comes back, I'll bring you to him. But I-" He turns as he notices something, "-don't have time to..."

The leader of the company waves his arm angrily, "What? You're going to let them through?" He asks in disbelief.

Bethany takes the chance and pulls her mother back and away from the central area of combat.

"I didn't say anything about-" Ewald is cut off.

"We've been here for four days! They just got here!" The right hand of the company shouts as they reach the breaking point. Garrett, Aveline, and Carver stiffen as they know what might happen.

The leader stomps his foot, "That's it! We're carving our way out of here. Men!"

Before anyone can move, Garrett quickly draws, notches, and fires an arrow into the knee of the mercenary leader. He falls to the ground screaming in intense pain as Aveline forms shield wall to block the knife attacks of two rogues. Carver parries a warriors sword and slices the guy's sword arm clean off with a mighty blow, throwing the mortally wounded man at the feet of his already terrified and desperate brethren. Two turn to run but Garrett puts them down. Aveline takes the confusion in stride and slices her sword through the chest of one rogue while bashing the other with her dead husband's templar shield. "Blight take you!" She shouts in victory as she crushes the staggered rogue's wind pipe via a spin-bash that collides the edge of her shield into the poor woman's neck. She drops to the ground choking before Carver finishes her with a quick be-heading, spraying her blood all over the group of fighters.

Garrett notices something out of the corner of his eye and barely turns to smack the stealthy rogue on the head with his bow. To his surprise Ewald's sword slams through the man's chest from the back, guaranteeing his death as it plunges straight through the aorta. "Hold the line men! Contain them!" He shouts as he yanks his sword out of the dead rogue's back. The last few of the mercenaries die quickly either by sword or arrow as they run away in fear. At the end Ewald sheathes his sword and roughly grabs the still shouting leader with an arrow sticking out of his left knee and yanks him to his feet to bind him. "Unbelievable." He shakes his head as he sees how many died during the fight.

An out of breath guard runs up from the docks, "Captain! Are you alright?"

Ewald shoves the mercenary leader into the arms of two other guards and turns to his second in command, "I am, no thanks to you. Where is everyone? Go find them. I want this kept under control." The guard nods and rushes off to alert the others. Ewald watches as the leader of the company is hauled away before turning to Garrett's group and smiling weakly, "You have my thanks." He inclines his head but stops to think, "Look, I can't get you into the city. It's not my decision, but I'll find your uncle and bring him here. It's the least I can do."

* * *

"And so the Champion waited, cramped with all the other refugees in the Gallows, waiting for Uncle Gamlen Amell to show up." Varric waits for any questions from Cassandra this time, getting used to the drill.

She taps her lips in thought before nodding, "That seems viable, and goes with what records we have collected about the refugees here." She frowns, "Though so far I don't see a meaningful connection between the Champion, Guardian, and this Darien character." She rubs her chin curiously in thought.

Varric smiles, "Be patient Seeker, all will be revealed in due time. Now back to the Warden." He sits back and gathers his thoughts.

"Please speed things up, whether you know it or not we're on a time table." She states urgently.

Varric nods sadly in understanding, "Alright, the Warden's group left Denerim after the forth day and traveled south towards the Brecilian Forest. Throughout the first three days Darien spent most of his time studying enchanting with Sandal and working on the smaller components of his custom staff as he gained even more knowledge about the Fade in his sleep..."

* * *

Another demon passes by me as I just stand there, a sheep among the wolves of this realm.

"What do you see?" The shade asks beside me.

"Red, blue, purple, black." I respond. Instantly everything ends and my eyes read the script once more as I stomp forwards, stepping through another island to find the city without lights still over me, shaded in the shadow of another string of faded gold. "Curious." I whisper in a strange feeling of comfort and disgust. I raise my arm to let it pass through a cloud of green mist and I'm back at the end. I shake off my disorientation and reach out to touch the red flames burning within the eyes of a kneeling statue, the golden skin of one who once killed the catalysts of Thedas now on display as the beacon of ancient magic. The sights end once more and I can see the blue sky of another illusion above me. The Desire Demon that slips through the fabric of the Fade and break into Thedas to hunt a girl in pigtails, the effigy of the lion roaring in her claws as I see her take shape in the alcove of stone and contained fire. I walk away from it and see the darkened purple veins of a strangled bandit tumble down the hillside to crash against an overturned caravan where a little girl cries in the language of the Elvhen. I only pause for a moment as I read the fear in her eyes and the mercy in her savior's as he carries her into the forest.

"Keep going." I hear the whispers of another walker pushing me forwards when I need to go back.

"Tis impossible!" I blink and look down into darkness just before I fall through the black tar and back into the physical reality of dreams. "Holy crap." I gasp in shock from the experience of time-leaping. I just sit there on the rooted ground as I memorize what I saw.

"Yes, it is amazing, the halls of prophecy." I look up at Pause with fear brimming in my tearful eyes.

"I- I couldn't..." I shake it off as best I can, being so powerful yet also so vulnerable is so disconcerting and terrifying for me.

"Steady your breath, time-leaping takes practice and without being prepared your mind will be lost to the breaks of time." Pause states kindly while picking up a book and shelving it in my growing library for later. "Oh, and thank you again by the way for letting me read your collection. It gets so boring when nothing stays the same."

I shake my head, "Yeah, sure. Does it get better or worse?" He doesn't respond and I have my answer. "Great."

"What did you live?" He asks as I sit down in my comfy chair.

I sigh, "Well... everything seems both clear and muddy at once. I can barely focus on anything."

He laughs, "Yes, you are definitely a Dreamer. Anyone else would only see their past, you experienced more than that." He seems proud, "You saw the future, your ability to Drift across realms adds a certain premonition to your dreams. Your disorientation is evidence of your success."

I rub my pounding head, "I'll take your word for it." I groan in pain, "It feels like my head was sliced in half by a bastard sword!"

Pause stops what he's doing and turns to me, "That is not supposed to happen, what do you see when you close your eyes?"

I blink before shutting them and yelling out in agony as I see the deaths of thousands. I rip my eyelids open and Pause is staring down at me, "You are beyond special Drifter. Your mind is able to sense trickery and block it with ease. I this from your childhood or just a consequence of living through a galactic invasion?"

I cough out from my dry throat and sit up to groan as my head pounds again, "Oh... I think it may be both at this point." I rub my temples to alleviate some of my headache.

"I will research this for our next session. It is time to wake now, goodbye Drifter." I move to look at him and all I see is the landscape of the fade as everything bleeds away.

* * *

I jump awake to find I fell asleep at my alchemy station again. I peel my face from the damp pages of my dream journal and magically pull the water from the pages before putting this night's events down for future study.

_I have really got to refine my methods..._

I finish scribbling Pause's last words in Ancient Tevinter before closing it up and putting it in a secret compartment under my robes.

"Brother, how did your dreams go tonight?" I turn to see Morrigan stepping into my tent with a worried expression.

I turn to her fully on my stool and smile weakly, "It went fine, although I think I might need to weaken the sleeping potion next time. I ended up drooling on my dream journal as I slept."

Her nose curls, "Lovely. Erianne and that fool of a templar Alistair went hunting an hour ago after she failed to wake you."

I run my gloved right hand down my face at forgetting about my other priority of cooking for everyone. "Great, I guess that means we have time to study Mother's Grimoire?"

She smiles and sits down on my new spare stool next to me just as she sets the dark tome of arcane knowledge in front of us and turns to the last few pages. "Here we are." She points at a symbol we decyphered as for the human soul.

I look down the page and smile as there isn't another new symbol for eight lines. "This might lead to us cracking the cypher." Morrigan pulls out the scrying orb I bought for her but instead of just a cloudy glass ball it's interior holds an infinite fractal of crystals that spiral into the center and pulse with an energy I recognize.

"What is that..." I breath as she sets it on the alchemy bench.

She smirks and moves closer to whisper her warm breath into my ear, "A gift for your staff."

I shiver involuntarily at her words, but keep myself from getting lost in the sensation. I freeze as her hand crawls up my thigh, "Your work requires the best equipment don't you agree?"

I place my hand over hers as it starts creeping towards my inner leg, "Sister." Her golden eyes meet mine and I can see a sharp brilliance there. "We cannot do this here..." She smiles at me and I can't help but feel a strange warmth at being the object of her affections. "But I am not against it."

Her smile disappears as she pulls her hand away and slams Mother's Grimoire shut. I watch as she quickly packs it up and starts for the tent flap, "Goodbye brother, t'would be best if we speak in private later, preferably in my tent."

_And she's gone._

I huff a laugh and shake my head at her strange idea of courtship.

_She definitely knows how to keep you wanting I'll give her that much._

I turn back to my alchemy and see the orb still sitting there swirling with the rarest form of energy you could power your staff with. I grasp the orb and the crystals vaporize as they swirl with a permanent mass of fade crystals in the center of the cyclone. I pull a wisp of the fade energy out of the orb and it glows green as it pulls just enough energy from the fade crystal to replace it. I grin at the marvelous object, "Oh this is absolutely perfect." I pull over a satchel from the corner and pull out the pieces of enchanted metal and wood that made up my unfinished staff. "Ok, lets see here..." I draw a finger around the fist of twisted wood at the top component of my staff and the eight wooded fingers unwrap to allow the orb to sit in place at its palm. I whisper, "Horeli perol..." and the fingers curl around the orb to form a perfect catalyst to the pure energy of the Fade. I smile as the crystals form branching chains to match the twisted wood grasping it. "Beautiful." I reach over and take the unfinished butt of my staff. I take an enchanted magnification rod Sandal helped me with and drop it into the base before sealing it shut with another glyph. Lastly I attach both sections around the center that holds the ice core of Wintersbreath as an amplifier and dress it in a layer of drakeskin Wade let me keep.

_A craftsman's work is only as good as the smallest component..._

Grasping my staff I step outside to test it out by the main campfire. I swing it around my person, finding it perfectly balanced with just enough weight to allow it to sit in my hands easily. Next I focus on the central core of it and funnel the fade energy through the ice core. I frown as it resists the transference of energy and I intensify the amount to see if it simply needs a higher conversion factor. The orb flares with fade energy and tosses it out to latch onto the closest mirror source of energy, the campfire. Bursts of fade flames shoot up into the sky to explode like small fireworks. It would have looks so beautiful if it hadn't also set fire to half of the campsite. "Son of a Whore!" I toss my staff into it's place on my back and rush around frantically putting out fires as everyone jumps out of their tents at the ready since it sounds and looks like something just attacked us. I look up and see Alistair's tent engulfed in fade flames.

_Erianne is going to kill me!_

"By the Maker what happened out here?!" I cringe as Erianne runs out of the forest looking beyond enraged, her hair still smoldering from when it caught fire a few moments ago.

* * *

A/N Here we are, chapter 20. I didn't think it would take this long to get to it. Honestly I wanted to be at chapter 30 at this point in time, but life got in the way...

For those of you that read Scorpio's Legacy I'm still working on the chapters, just really slowly. ie It's taken me two weeks to get half a chapter done. :/

Lastly, make sure to hold a door open for someone today. It really helps people think that someone cares for them. :) And who knows? Maybe that kind gesture will spark a chain reaction that allows someone to donate food or even decide to actually run that marathon for cancer they've been trying to get the courage to participate in!

Have a great day everyone! :)


	21. Escaping the Gallows

A/N This week is midterms. I forgot about them and had to study over the weekend to have a chance. Here's another chapter for everyone!

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

* * *

_What happens when one of your allies supposedly sets fire to your entire campsite testing out his new staff?_

"Morrigan may I sleep over here? I doubt they'll leave me be if I don't give them room." She rolls her eyes with a small smile and waves her hand to indicate a spot next to her tent I could set up. "Thanks."

_Apparently their just recently acquired boyfriend threatens to kill you if you don't stay twenty feet away from them at all times._

"Having trouble with the toting couple are we?" She asks a few minutes later as I finish setting everything up.

I sigh, "Yeah, one should avoid setting fire to your leader's boyfriend's tent at all times, especially if you only just regained their trust."

She laughs, "T'was surprisingly amusing to see our fearless leader running about so frantically." I smile as she looks back to mother's Grimoire.

_She's the only one besides Leliana that immediately defended me when Alistair attacked. I have to make it up to her somehow._

"Morrigan?" She looks up at me with a blank face, "Thanks for that orb, but how in all of Thedas did you manage to contain pure fade energy into a crystalline form?"

She smiles, "That, my dear sweet brother, is a secret for myself to keep and for you to ponder."

I laugh, "I'm sure, either way thank you for it, but I am still having trouble with the core of my staff." I indicate the scarred landscape and burnt tents behind me, "As you've seen."

She looks to my staff and I crack it open to show her the core rod. She smirks, "You don't have a clue about what you're doing don't you?" I shake my head, "Then give it here and observe." She grabs the staff from my hands as she stands and cracks it apart expertly before removing the core and placing a black branch inside and sealing everything up. "Try this brother."

I take it in my hands and cringe as the pure fade energy starts instantly burning my hand before I can contain it. "Hold sodding Creators..."

She crosses her arms with a satisfied smirk, "Fade energy only reacts with ancient heartwood. Tis simple knowledge to those who craft advanced staffs for powerful mages. My own was crafted from pure heartwood Mother kept in short supply at the hut."

I swing my staff around, forming ruin patterns that form into physical glyphs in the air itself as I test the agility of the energy. The glyphs stick and form a protective barrier to capture and cancel out any magical energy I cast that isn't fade energy. Spinning it around I decide some combat was in order and snap it towards a rock, a bolt of fade energy shoots from it to slap against the rock with a kinetic blast that cracks it indefinitely.

_By the Dread Wolf..._

I snap it in the second sequence of attack and the rock chips away. The third shatters it. The back-hand snap of the fourth sequence blasts a small crater where the rock used to be. I spin the staff around and pound the base into the dirt expecting it to blast the area with a powerful explosion. Tendrils of fade energy rip from the orb and fly around to slam into the crater and form a swirling orb of power before rapidly accelerating and blasting outwards, forming temporary hair-line fractures in the veil itself and setting the grass around it aflame with fade flames. "Holy sod!" I grin at the intense power my staff holds.

"Don't be too grateful brother, that core is not meant to last through intense combat. You'll need to replace it with an appropriately crafted and enchanted core rod otherwise it'll rip through the Veil during battle." I sigh in response.

_There's always a trade-off._

I place it back in the loop on my back and shrug, "I'll see if the Dalish have something useful when we arrive."

She steps a bit closer, "There are... other things that I require to be done before then, brother."

I stare at her as she moves another step closer and brushes a hand up my arm with her eyes half-lidded. "Uh... I..." She smirks deviously at me as I stumble over myself.

"Tis interesting, don't you agree? That the two most powerful individuals in our little group have not decided their... allegiances." She whispers into my ear.

I close my eyes and can feel the intense heat coming off her body, her hot breath on my neck, her thin fingers slowly caressing my torso... "There are... problems we might correct in our own way in the coming months." I shakily respond.

"I wish to help in that endeavor..." She pulls back with a dangerously primal look in her golden eyes and I swallow in apprehension. "Join me and you will no longer need to fight alone in this struggle."

I close my eyes and hear what she said years ago...

_"What am I if we are not insane beyond belief? We live in a hut! A hut in the middle of the wilds and still you cannot stop seeing her face?" Erianne no longer cares for me in that way. "Tis cold tonight, mind if I... correct that?" She knew her intentions years ago._

I open my eyes and see the brimming attraction and affection in her sharp and intelligent golden eyes. "Tis cold in my tent all alone..." She speaks airily.

I smile and move so close that our noses are almost touching due to our relatively even height.

_I'm tall for an elf, I realized that a while ago, 5' 4-6"._

I wrap an arm around her thin waist and her eyes light up, "We will have to fix that..." Her lips separate for a witty retort and I cut her off with a forceful kiss of primal passion that ignites everything she's been holding inside. We desperately pull at each-other's robes as we pull each-other towards her tent as quickly as we can.

She giggles as I kiss her exposed neck. She yanks my velvet off and expertly undoes my belted straps to get at my chest. Her sharp fingernails drag across my skin as I undo her top and expose her perfect che-

* * *

Varric coughs, "Well, that's the short update on Darien. He went into great detail about how they ravaged each other, but I don't think you'll want to here me recite those... steamy details." Cassandra raises an eyebrow at him and he clears his throat, "Now, lets finish up the Champion's arrival at Kirkwall." Cassandra watches Varric intently as he starts the tale of one of her original persons of interest. "After waiting for days and barely getting by with the coin they brought with from Lothering they were nearly at their wits end..."

* * *

Aveline continues to pace back and forth like a caged animal. "It's been three days." Bethany looks up from the tome Darien gave her to watch as Aveline starts degrading even further into madness. "This waiting has to end." Aveline declares desperately.

Leandra, who stood at the archway to their little alcove, turns with a hopeful expression, "I'm sure it won't be much longer. Gamlen must still be looking for us!" Bethany notices the small twitch in her mother's hands and she knows she doesn't believe her own words, but she has to stay strong for the group.

Aveline stops pacing to look at Leandra with disbelief, "And if he's not?"

"I'm sure he is."

Bethany closes her book with a short sigh, "You've said that eight times now mother, time to think of another way in."

Garrett turns his head from his group to spot a shadow moving up to their alcove, "Don't look now, but I think that's our man."

Everyone turns, hope finally starting to brighten. The shadow steps up to them to reveal a sickly looking elf and all hope is finally gone from the Hawke family. "I-I'm sorry but do any of you have s-something to eat perchance?" The strange elf asks desperately.

Garrett shakes his head truthfully, "We ran out of food yesterday."

"Oh. I-I'm sorry I bothered you." Is all the elf says before bolting it out of the alcove and back into the crowd.

Leandra closes her eyes and sighs tiredly, "Perhaps your right, but what else could we do?"

Bethany goes to try and answer her mother when another shadow pops up just behind Garrett to step into the light, "Leandra?" everyone turns as the graying middle aged man steps from the shadows to smile warmly to his sister. "Damn girl, the years haven't been kind to you."

Leandra jumps over and hugs him, nearly in tears from how relieved she is that he's here, "Gamlen!"

He takes it in stride and wraps his arms around his sister before hesitating as he speaks, "Let me say up front, I wasn't expecting this. The Blight, your husband dead... I'd, ah, figured you'd pretty much be Ferelden for life."

Leandra turns away to look at the ground sadly, "Oh, Gamlen, we nearly came too late. My darling children were almost malled by an ogre as we escaped." She looks apologetically to Aveline as she continues, "Aveline here lost her husband as he tried to protect me, Andraste guide him."

Gamlen groans and rubs his forehead, "Oh, Maker save me. Leandra, don't drop this on me here. I don't even know if I can help you get in?"

"What about mother?" Bethany asks worriedly, unable to contain her emotions any longer.

Garrett turns to Gamlen and smiles charmingly, "Would it help if I said you were my favorite uncle?"

Gamlen chuckles for a moment and smiles to the boy, "It'd make me feel better, but that's about it." He turns, now in a better mood, back to Leandra, "I was hoping to grease some palms, but the Knight Commander's been cracking down." His brow creases, "We're going to need more grease."

"But... what about the estate?" Leandra asks in confusion, "Surely father left something when he died?"

Gamlen looks away almost sadly, "Right, about the estate... It's, uh, gone. To settle a debt, I've been meaning to write you." He tries to justify.

"Then there's no hope." Leandra breathes in shock.

Gamlen clears his throat before anyone else can get even more depressed, "Not quite, I know some people who might help..." He looks at Garrett, "If you're not too delicate about the company you keep."

Bethany scowls at the idea, "Why don't we just leave?"

Her mother shakes her head in disbelief, "This was my home! I can't believe they won't let me come back."

Gamlen speaks up to try and explain, "Every city on the coast has been hip-deep in Fereldens since the Blight. You could try your luck further inland, I suppose, but it won't be easy."

This angers Carver who turns his frustration onto his sister in response, "We're not putting mother through that. We came here, we're staying here." Bethany sighs at his finality.

Garrett turns to his uncle with a small bit of optimism, "Let's here it uncle. What do you have in mind?"

"I talked to my contacts and I found some people who might be willing to pay your way into the city." He speaks carefully, making sure to keep his tone as neutral as possible. "The catch is you, your brother, and sister will have to work off the debt. For a year."

Leandra's eyes widen in shock, "A year!"

Gamlen frowns worriedly, "It's the best I could do! Trust me when I say a bunch of refugees won't get a better option anywhere else."

Bethany sees the obstacle and steps forward, "This will NOT stand in my way." Everyone looks at her in surprise at her directness, well, except for Gamlen why smiles at her as if she's always this direct.

Garrett laughs nervously, "I'm sure we'll be free and clear before we know it." He smiles at his own sarcasm.

Gamlen nods in understanding, "I managed to convince my contacts to come to the Gallows to meet you personally. Meeran heads up the mercenary company, the Red Iron. They're looking for recruits." He says with a slight bit of optimism before hesitating as he continues, "Athenrial... I guess you might call her a smuggler. Either one can help you. All you need to do is find them in the courtyard and convince them you're worth the trouble."

Garrett frown in deep thought for a moment, unsure which one to find first. He turns to his siblings, "What do you two think about this?"

Carver shrugs, "What can I say? Better here then nowhere."

Bethany crosses her arms, "Anywhere is fine, as long as I can study in peace."

Garrett nods in understanding, "Lets find them and see what they have to say."

Leandra has her doubts though, "Oh Gamlen I don't know about this."

Gamlen frowns at his sister, "It's a lot of coin Leandra. Don't go expecting our name to carry the kind of weight it used to."

Aveline steps forwards, "And what of me? I will not allow others to incur debts on my behalf."

Gamlen laughs under his breath, "Can't see that it makes a difference. You look like a lady who can pull her own weight." His smile is a bit unsettling for everyone.

"Then you'll come with us." Leandra offers kindly.

"I... have no real option. Thank you." Aveline responds gratefully.

"Alright, now lets play who can find the mercenary and smuggler in a sea of refugees." Garrett quips as they walk back down the hall and into the mildly filled courtyard. Hundreds more refugees arrived within the last three days alone. They even saw the family they kicked off their ship in the crowd and avoided them at all costs.

* * *

After a short walk around the courtyard Aveline spots something. "I see some men in the corner over there. They seem the mercenary types." Aveline declares.

Garrett looks and sees a few men in reddish armor and rough looks on their faces from multiple battles, "Good eye Aveline."

Moving over to the group, Garrett takes the lead as per the usual and steps up to the oldest and most battle-hardened of the mercenaries, "Meeran?"

The older man turns to set his hard gaze on Garrett and his group, "Huh. So you're Hawke? The nephew?" Garrett inclines his head to confirm and Meeran looks them over with a critical eye, "Your uncle talked up a storm about you, He better not be blowing more smoke out his ass."

Garrett blinks in surprise, "My uncle doesn't seem like the sort to hang out with mercenaries."

Meeran doesn't blink as he clarifies, "He doesn't. Gamlen cheated one of my men at a Wallop match. You turn out, we'll call it even."

Bethany frowns as she whispers, "I knew this sounded fishy!"

Carver doesn't hear as he's too enamored by first impressions, "So you're a mercenary?" He asks curiously.

Meeran looks at him with surprise before he gets it, "Right. You're not a Marcher like your uncle. The Red Iron is well known in these parts. We pick who for and keep our noses clean." His expression hardens, "But anyone screws with us, we mess them up, make sense?"

Aveline agrees, "Makes sense."

Carver's ecstatic at this point, All I know is if we join the company, I'm going to start talking like that." He states happily.

Bethany looks down at her feet with uncertainty, "This isn't what seems right, even though I understand their philosophy." She watches Merran for a moment, "You're paying a lot of money to help strangers."

Meeran smiles, "Your uncle mentioned you and your brother were mages. We're willing to pay for that."

Bethany swears angrily, "Damn it Gamlen."

Garrett swallows worriedly, "I didn't realize Gamlen told you that."

Meeran smiles brightly, "You stick with us, you'll be safe. For the year at least."

Garrett nods slowly as he starts to understand, "What do we need to do to prove ourselves?"

Meeran waves for them to come closer and they do, "Noble bastard named Friedrich is here in the Gallows. Gave us bad info, almost killed my men. Now he's hiding out here, waiting for a ship. He sees us coming, he'll run for sure. But he doesn't know you. Go kill him and his men. We'll make sure no one asks why." Meeran turns and walks back to lean against a pillar as they all walk back over to the crowds.

Bethany speaks up once they're out of ear-shot, "I'm all for killing betrayers, but do we really want to draw more attention to ourselves by killing someone in the Gallows? Kirkwall's Mage prison?" She asks worriedly.

Garrett sighs, "We might not have a choice, now lets go find this Athenrial."

* * *

Walking into the dark alcove where three armored elves stand, Garrett decides to step up to the blond female first, "Are you Athenrial?"

She turns and looks at them, "You must be Gamlen's nephew, interesting..." She looks them over critically with a small smirk before evening out her features to get back to business, "I don't know what he told you about us, but he certainly told us a great deal about you." She looks over at Bethany, "Both of you."

Bethany groans, "Gamlen and his big mouth."

Carver coughs nervously, "Er... how much exactly?"

Athenrial looks him over, "Enough to pique our interest." She winks at him before turning back to Garrett, "Provided you can justify your uncle's confidence."

"How did you get to be one of my Uncle's contacts?" Garrett asks curiously.

Athenrial smiles, "Is that what he calls us? He owes us after that last big idea. If you turn out, though, we'll consider things even."

Garrett nods in understanding that his uncle was in debt up to his eyelids to multiple criminal organizations, "I'd like to know more about what we'd be doing for you."

She shrugs, "I can be honest. We don't compete with the thieves guild, but we keep our fingers in a lot of pots. That said, we're not killers or slavers, anything short of that, however, is far game."

Aveline scowls disapprovingly, "Do what you want, but this sounds fishy to me."

Carver turns and adds his two cents, "Begging and taking your pick never went hand in hand."

Bethany smiles, "This seems much more interesting then our other offer, but what would we have to do?"

Athenrial has them step around the corner, "There's a merchant named Cavril. Friend of the templars, so they let him set up his little shop here in the gallows. We supplied him in return for a piece of the take, but now he won't pay up." She paces in frustration, "We can't go near him without him screaming for the guard, but you can. Get our money from him and you're in." She smirks with her deep green eyes at Garrett and he swallows before walking far enough away to speak privately, "I'd rather go with Athenrial than Meeran personally."

Bethany nods, "Same here."

Aveline crosses her arms angrily, "I'm not going to be accessories to theft and smuggling."

Carver shrugs, "I think we're best working with Meeran. He seems pretty awesome."

Aveline nods, "Agreed, about working with Meeran."

Garrett looks at the group, he and his sister against his brother and Aveline. Without any consensus he rubs his head in deep thought before deciding, "We could convince them to take half of us each. Aveline, Carver, go find Friedrich and deal with him for the Red Iron. Bethany and I'll go talk to this Cavril."

Carver sighs, "Mother won't like this."

Bethany folds her arms, "Mother won't care so long as we're alive."

And with one last glance they go their separate ways.

* * *

Aveline looks around the corner and into a large alcove to spot a man looking like he's quite well off being guarded by five or six, six men in heavy leather armor. "Carver, I found Friedrich I think." She points to him as Carver looks over.

"Well then lets go get him!" He unsheathes his bastard sword and Aveline hold him back.

"No, lets talk with him first, I need to know what he did to piss Meeran off." Carver reluctantly agrees and they start walking over.

"Have you checked the courtyard again?" Friedrich asks the leader of his bandits.

"He's still out there, but he's alone. And he;s not making a move." The man answers from his spot leaning against the wall.

"I don't trust this! What will we do when the ship comes?" He turns to see Aveline and Carver approaching, "Wait! Who are you? I demand to know what you're doing here!"

Aveline speaks with a no-bullshit voice, "You Friedrich?"

The bandit leader steps off the wall to watch them, "Meeran sent them."

Friedrich turns angrily to him, "I'm not an idiot! I could have figured that out myself!" He narrows his eyes at Aveline, "Look, you... I don't know what that pissant thug is paying you, but I'll double it! Just let us go!"

Aveline places a hand on the hilt of her sword, "I might change my mind if you tell me what you did."

Friedrich scoffs, "Bah! Those fools take everything so personally! So I told Lord Asheral they were coming. It was business!"

Carver shakes his head, "You're more daft then I thought."

He starts to panic now, "I was perfectly willing to give the Red Iron a share, or all of it! I-I can give it to you, as well! Just let me go!" He offers in his desperation.

Aveline thinks for a moment when a thought crosses her mind.

If this man is a noble he might be able to get us into the city.

"Get us into Kirkwall and we leave you be." She orders.

Friedrich stares at them in surprise and anger, "What? I don't have that kind of coin! I'm having trouble leaving the damned city!"

The bandit leader has a better deduction, "So Meeran sent refugees after us?"

This ends Friedrich's patience, "Bah! Stinking dog lords! Kill them and send their bodies back to Meeran!"

Aveline immediately unsheathes her sword and cracks the hilt against a bandit's head to knock them onto their ass as she parries another's dagger for Carver to decapitate him outright. "Form up!" Aveline shouts. Both of them jump to battle back to back in an outlast formation both of them know from serving in the King's army at Ostagar. Aveline cuts down a rogue while Carver kills a flanking warrior trying to hit her with his mace. Another turn, another group of enemies. They fight and battle in this formation for moments that feel like seconds. Friedrich's hired bandits fall easily to their experienced fighting style until only the noble bastard himself is left. Aveline rushes him from the front and holds Wesley's shield up to block the quick slices of Friedrich's blades. "Carver!" Friedrich turns to barely see the huge sharpened bastard sword coming at his head before it chops his head in half all the way down to the collar bones. Carver rips his sword out of Friedrich's beyond dead corpse before starting to loot the bodies for anything useful. Aveline lowers her weapon as she walks over to look at Friedrich's body sadly and mutter, "Stupid, stupid." She sighs at the waste of life before turning to Carver as he walks up.

"I found about seven sovereigns on the bodies, here's your half." He hands her a bloody coin purse.

She takes it with a blank expression, "Thank you Carver, lets get back to Meeran."

* * *

Meeran looks over at them as they approach, "You're back? Wait... where's Hawke? And that other girl?" He watches them angrily.

Aveline doesn't blink, "They decided to go a different path, I however an willing to accept you're offer."

Carver agrees, "So am I."

Meeran swears as he paces for a moment, "Those foolish twats!" He sighs as he sees his deal has changed, "The deal was for two mages, one I could work with and I'll assume neither of you are one of those magic users." They shake their heads, "Sorry then, but no." He turns to leave.

Aveline, seeing their option ending, thinks fast. "Wait!" She pulls out her coin purse. "How about we pay an additional installment? Seven sovereigns now and thirteen more over our employment?"

Meeran looks at them and their coin purses before sighing as he rubs his chin, "Well... that does cut a lot of the initial armor costs..." He smiles, "You know how to bargain Red, alright we'll get you two in. Just don't end up forgetting your debt like that worthless uncle of yours." He takes their coin and walks back to stand in the shadows again.

Aveline and Carver turn away and Carver sighs in relief, "Phew, that was close, but now we're in even MORE debt." He states with relative disdain.

Aveline looks at him as they continue walking through the crowds, "At least we get in, we'll figure something out when we settle into the company."

He scoffs in response, "Now I'm wondering if we'll even survive this year." She sighs at her terrible companion's manners.

* * *

_Meanwhile across the courtyard..._

Garrett and Bethany approach Cavril's stand as they notice a woman arguing with him.

"I've already told you. I can't give you anymore for them!" The bald merchant, presumably Cavril, declares to the withered woman in front of him.

She frowns in response, "But that was everything we have! It's all we brought with us!"

Cavril turns away from her and speaks with false empathy, "And I feel for you, serah, but it's the best I can do."

This agitates the woman, "If they just let us into the city, I could get three times that price!"

Cavril sighs as his patience is long exhausted, "Myron?"

An armored man, his face covered, walks up and crosses his arms to intimidate the woman, "Your business is done." He says with finality.

"But..." She sighs in defeat and turns to walk away.

Bethany, seeing how desperate this woman is, reaches into a hidden pocket and pulls out a sovereign, "Wait! Miss?" She turns to look at Bethany as she's hands her the gold coin, "Here, take this."

The woman's face lights up and she hugs Bethany in gratitude. "Thank you! Oh thank you so much! You just fed my family for weeks serah!." She turns and runs off to tell her family the great news.

Garrett sees the light smile on his sister's lips and raises an eyebrow at her, wondering where she got that coin. Bethany picks up on it and shrugs at him, "What? Darien taught me to save money for any worthy causes I might come across. I also found a few coins hidden in the spine of that tome he gave me, 'for emergencies' his note said."

"Now then!" Cavril catches their attention. "What can I do for you, serah?"

Bethany narrows her eyes at the sly merchant as she sees him subtly looking around for a threat. She stops her brother from speaking as she steps forwards, "I've got this." She approaches Cavril as he blinks at her in confusion. She smiles before grabbing the snake by the throat and kicking out his legs. He's forced to his knees as she builds a searing ball of flames in her free hand. "Give us Athenrial's cut or I'll burn you alive." She says sweetly as she looks at the two thugs ready to pounce, "And your men."

Garrett watches in shock as Cavril immediately surrenders, "Stay back!" His men stop and he looks into Bethany's cold blue eyes with such a fright that Garrett thinks he's about to have a heart attack. "Take it! Take it all!" He gives her the chest key and she takes it gladly before smiling and releasing her grip on his throat. He coughs before rushing past his men and sprinting away in fear.

Garrett looks at his sister as she unlocks the chest and takes the coin Athenrial was promised. "Uh..."

She stands, still smiling, and pushes past him, "Come on, that was fun, but lets get back to Athenrial."

Garrett follows her quickly, still having trouble getting used to the new Bethany.

* * *

Garrett smiles as they step up to Athenrial's people and Bethany gives her the coin, "You could have given us something more challenging."

Athenrial takes the coin with a smirk, "Will you look at that." Her eyes look up and reach Garrett's and her smirk lifts into a smile, "Tell your uncle we'll make the arrangements." She frowns as she looks at Bethany, "Wait, what happened to that red-head and sword-toting soldier?"

Bethany crosses her arms, "They decided to get in a different way."

"Their loss, interesting." She taps a slender finger against her chin and nods, "Well since there's less baggage, that means less cost." She takes the coin Bethany gave her and hands it back, "Here, take this, I won't need it anymore and for two mages I can't afford to let you run off either." She waves for her people to follow her, "We'll make the arrangements, welcome aboard." She flashes another smile at Garrett before following her people back into the shadows.

He watches her go and blinks as he believes he's missed something important. He shrugs and turns to his sister, "I wonder if Aveline and Carver convinced Meeran to let them on."

She scoffs and turns to walk away, "Probably. They might have to pay a bit up front but I'm sure Friedrich's corpse will have a hefty sum on it."

Garrett cringes at the thought, "Oh, already to looting corpses are they? I'm glad I don't have to do that. I hate blood." Bethany rolls her eyes at her sensitive older brother and takes the lead as they walk back to Gamlen and Leandra to tell them the good news.

* * *

Gamlen looks over to see one of his nephews and his niece walking over, "Any luck?" He asks hopefully.

Leandra looks over worriedly when she sees Aveline and Carver not with them, "Whe-?" She catches Aveline's red hair out of the corner of her eye and turns to see her and Carver splattered in blood. "Oh my..."

Garrett and Aveline nod to each other as he explains, "We split up and joined both groups, Bethany and I are with Athenrial and Carver and Aveline went with Meeran."

Gamlen's eye brows shoot up in shock, "They let you in? For both groups? That is surprisingly helpful." He smiles as he sees his debts flying away with his nieces and nephews. "I'll speak with them both and see when the bribes can be made. Wait here." He walks off grinning from ear to ear.

Leandra turns to her little boy and worriedly looks him over, "Carver where did all that blood come from?"

He looks away and Aveline answers, "We had to kill a noble to prove our worth to Meeran."

Leandra holds her head, "Oh Maker, I hope it wasn't a family I know, how horrible!"

Carver sighs, "Worse things have happened mother."

"Oh course, I just don't want any of you to get hurt. Especially after-"

Garrett cuts her off, "Mother, we'll be fine." The group turns to look at Gamlen as he speaks to Meeran and Athenrial directly in the corner.

"I guess we did it." Carver exclaims in surprise. "We're here to stay, at least for a while."

Garrett smirks, "No more running for our lives unless we really have to." Everyone looks at him seriously and he sighs, "Everyone's a critic."

Bethany looks at the ground sadly, "If only Darien could be here with us."

Aveline agrees in her own mourning, "And Wesley." She adds.

Garrett steps to the front of the group and turns, "Well, we're off to a fantastic start. Let's see what else this city has in store." His siblings roll their eyes at him and Leandra shakes her head as Aveline ignores it. He sighs again, "Seriously? Nothing? Not even a small chuckle? Maker you're all going to kill my comedy career."

* * *

"Thus began the Champion's first year in Kirkwall. Aveline and Carver began fighting and killing to get by while Garrett and Bethany resorted to theft, smuggling, and trickery to live quite successfully. Their year of hardship would be long and difficult, but rewarding none the less." Varric takes a small break to clear his throat and drink from the glass Cassandra had brought in. He swirls the clear liquid and sighs before deciding to just trust the Seeker's people and drink.

Cassandra taps her fingertips impatiently as he drinks the water slowly, "It isn't poisoned Varric, if I wanted you dead I'd plunge my sword into your skull."

He puts the glass down and scowls at her, "You seriously think I don't know that?" He responds angrily. He shakes it off and clears his throat again, "You have to remember that threatening me won't get you anything but lies." She rolls her eyes and he sits back as he takes a moment to collect his thoughts. The next part was going to take a while to explain and he wanted to make sure he explained it perfectly. Darien's life depends on it.

* * *

A/N Ok, if I don't lose anymore time I should have another chapter up by tomorrow morning. Hopefully. :/

Have a great day anyways. :)


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